The making of the film RHINO and its related jungle adventure.. Part 2

In the previous post, I had mentioned how I dropped my wallet, while sitting on the elephant. Later on the search for the wallet had begun. Holding a bamboo stick, Shashank and myself were led by the mahout. Suddenly we heard the elephant rumbling. We looked at the mahout.. "Sahab jab tiger aas pas hot hai to haathi aise hi aawazz karta hai... magar darne ki koi baat nahi aap ka purse dhoond ke hi nikaalenge.." Just as he was reassuring us, we saw a  tiger coming towards us. Before we could react the mahout started shooing the tiger away with his bamboo stick . The elephant also started making loud rumbling noise. 

....The incident of the lost wallet became a part of the film Rhino

Shashank and I  joined the mahout and the elephant in the chorus and the poor tiger, totally confused started running away from us. Seeing the opportunity we also started running away from the tiger  The Mahout called us .. "Sahab tiger to bhag gaya , aaiye batua dhoondte hain " . By then I had made up my mind.." Batue ko maro goli . hume es jungle se bahar nikalo". And within no time we were back at the beat office. Although the mahout was  hundred percent confident that he will find the purse.... we were scared to go back. 

Mahout called us .. "Sahab tiger to bhag gaya , aaiye batua dhoondte hain " 

 Help came from Mr Tiwari an IAS officer who was  the commissioner of Dispur divison. He ensured that we leave no stone unturned and finish our location hunting work while we were in Assam. I must admit, had it not been for  Mr Tiwari's  positive and  proactive approach ,we  would not have been successful in our mission.

 One horned Rhino at Kaziranga National Park

 The film Rhino was made in the year 1987. At that time some artistes and technicians were taking their first step towards Bollywood and some were already established names. Upon our return to Mumbai, we finalized  the  technicians and artists for the shooting. Debu Deodhar who had worked as the cinematographer in many of Amol Palekar's film was the Chief cameraman for Rhino. His wife Shrabani Deodhar was the chief asst.director of the film. Unfortunately Debu Deodhar passed away this year after battling lung disorder. Incidentally in the year 1999, Shrabani  Directed "Silsila Pyar Ka" with Karishma Kapoor and Chandrachud Singh. 

(L to R) Manjari, Child Artistes, Ashoo Singh, Shrabani Deodhar along with Mr Phukkan

 Another female technician who accompanied us for the shooting of Rhino was Ashoo Singh, as the dress designer. She is now the wife of actor Alok Nath. 

NSD personality Manjari was a part of the Rhino team as an artiste. She is now happily  married to Om Katare,who heads the Yatri Theater Group in Mumbai.
I too was a part of the star cast of Rhino. I played the role of a forest officer, who helps the child artistes (in the film) to catch the poachers.

Mukesh Sharma with the child artistes in a scene from Rhino

During my 12 years stint with CFSI, I produced nearly 15, feature films. All of them full length, 35mm and Eastman colour.  I use to handle the projects single handedly on behalf of CFSI, as all the other manpower and staff use to be on contract basis for any particular film.  Care was taken to choose the right person in consultation with the director of the film. But some times you get the bad along with the good.

Two such cases found their way in Rhino's basket. One was an artiste Arora, who was to play the role of the villain and other was the cook in the production department who accompanied the unit . 

Mukesh Sharma as forest officer

Manjari as Mami

As per my instructions the kitchen at the location was suppose to be closed by 10 pm whenever there was an early morning shift. Hence all artistes and technicians were required to finish there dinner by that time. It so happened that on the very first day of shoot in the jungles of Manas wild life sanctuary, artiste Arora who was fully sozzelled reached the dining hall at around 10.15 pm. By that time I was in my bed since the next day's shoot was planned at 6am. Suddenly I heard shouting and commotion from the dining hall. The cook and Arora were having heated arguments. Arora was asking the cook to lay the dinner. The cook refused to oblige him as the dinner hours were over. Suddenly the  heated commotion turned into fist fight. By the time I reached the hot spot with my Production Manager the damage was done. The cook had slit open the cheek of Arora with his cooking knife, Aroa was bleeding and running after him . We were running after Arora, who was swearing that he will kill the cook. Some how the athletic built cook climbed the wall and  left the premises. He was not to be seen . I managed to control Arora and promised him that the cook would be punished. In any case I had made up mind to send the cook back, even hand him over to the police. Upon examining Arora's wound I thought he needs stitches on left side of his face. But then we were deep in the forest and there was no doctor around. Some how we needed to close the wound. The best solution was to staple it temporarily. But that was a weired idea . So I decided to close the wound by sticking cello tapes on it. We used one full big size cello tape . Arora was so drunk that after sometime he just passed out.  

Arora the villain, with stitch marks on his face

 The cook never came back. We had to manage without a cook for a couple of days but help came from the fairer sex of the unit. Right from Shrabani to Ashu to Manjari every one was there to guide the production team as to how to cook the food . Next day Arora was taken to the doctor who stitched his wound. Since he had to play the role of a villain, the scar on his face matched with his character. The wound healed in a week's time and his stitches were removed. But since the stitches had become a part of the  continuity, false stitches were drawn on his face in all his subsequent shots.

The real Rhino horns..were a part of the film

Before I forget, let me tell you, the wallet was recovered by the mahout. He handed over it to the beat officer, who in turn informed Mr Tiwari the Divisional Commissioner. Mr Tiwari called us at Mumbai and informed that all the monies etc were intact. When I went for shooting, the first thing I did was to contact the mahout and award him. But he refused to accept any kind of monetary benefit. "So what does he want" I inquired .."Just a bottle of Rum." pat came the reply..

Film Rhino was well received by the children. It was screened at several International children's film festivals.

WATCH OUT for 10th APRIL .....THE DAY IC 436 WAS HIJACKED ..... I WAS ONE OF THE PASSENGER IN THAT ILL FATED FLIGHT................"The Day I was Hijacked"...