How the cast of Yaariyan shot some crucial portions in Sikkim

By Screen Weekly -

November 14, 2013 - 4:15 AM IST

Director Divya Kumar Khosla didn't leave any stone unturned while shooting for her debut film, Yaariyan. She would go trekking on the mountains in North Sikkim with lead actor Himansh Kohli, to make sure that his character of a trekker looked convincing. "I did an extensive recce in Sikkim, Darjeeling to find the perfect locations. After short-listing a few areas by seeing the photographs, the final ones were locked after some research.

Snowy terrain

Talking about their experience of shooting in Lachen, actress Rakul Preet said, "The temperature would go down to as low as minus 8 degree. We were shooting for a romantic number and it was difficult for the cars to climb up the mountain peak, where Divyaji wanted to film a portion with a jimmy jib camera. All of us, including the crew, had to walk through the heavy snow which reached our knees, for close to 45 minutes."

Actress Nicole Faria added, "During our stay in Lachen, we would all huddle together on the bed with blankets around us and wearing warm clothes. Throughout the schedule in Sikkim and Darjeeling, we ended up surviving on green tea, soups and Wai wai noodles."

While all the actors were required for their scenes, Shreyas Pardiwalla and Devanshu Sharma joined the team just for a lark. "Devanshu and I didn't have a single scene in the Sikkim schedule, but we convinced Divya ma'am to take us along. We were mesmerized with the beauty of Sikkim and the snowfall was fascinating. But by night, the weather became unbearable and we asked each other - 'what are we doing here'?" says Pardiwalla.

Divine experience

When the unit reached the location at 10pm, it was pitch dark. Adding to their woes, when they reached the hotel, there was no electricity and according to Kumar after the long trek, the experience was akin to that of a boot camp. But the surreal locales and the pristine valley turned the moment into a spiritual experience. "We were coming back from Lachen and filming a song called 'Allah Variyan' in a red bus, when suddenly our bus stuck in the snow and stopped moving. The driver asked us to get down, as the vehicle would slip back. Call it divine intervention or just our luck, but the bus started moving the moment we started shouting Jai Mata Di. That's when we were informed that the place where our bus had stopped was near the Gurudongmar lake, which was touched by Guru Nanakji. Perhaps, God wanted us to seek his blessings before going ahead," stated Pardiwalla.

While several portions of the film was shot in Sikkim and Darjeeling, a song and some scenes were shot in Cape Town. The last schedule was in Mumbai, where the team shot for the interior scenes in a set erected at Film City.