Shot-sighted

When Shah Rukh Khan summoned Santosh Sivan to shoot his entry sequence of Billu, Sivan dropped everything to oblige.

When it comes to shooting an important sequence, it seems Shah Rukh Khan trusts no one else but his friend, cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Santosh Sivan. One of SRK’s most loyal friends, Santosh, has earlier worked with him on Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Asoka. So this time, when he got a call from the actor to come to Mumbai immediately and shoot a sequence for Billu, Sanotsh readily set his own work in Chennai aside and rushed to Mumbai.

SRK wanted Santosh to shoot his glamorous entry sequence which requires him to enter on a motorbike with a pounding background score. Though the cinematographer for Billu is V Manikandan, Santosh who never impinges on a colleague’s territory decided to make Billu an exception for friendship’s sake. After all, Billu is all about celebrating friendship.Says Santosh, “Shah Rukh asked me to do the particular entry sequence, and no one says ‘no’ to him. The last I had shot for Priyadarshan (director of Billu) was nearly a decade ago, for Kalapani (1996), a film that had got me a National award. For Shah Rukh’s scenes where he interacts with his fans on a motorbike we shot at Mukesh Mills for two days.”

Santosh is now planning to direct and shoot a film that SRK will produce and act in.