‘My Mother Would Keep Wet Towels Ready And Wrap Them Around Me During Breaks’, Says Perin Malde On Facing Challenges And Shooting At Temperatures Ranging 40-45 Degrees On The Sets Of Ramayan 2008

Jyothi Venkatesh

Anand Sagar’s Ramayan is currently enjoying a re-run on Dangal channel. The roles of Luv and Kush were essayed by Perin Malde and Rishab Sharma who were 9 and 11 years old, respectively, who play the two little princes. During the initial days of the shoot, there were sequences that had to be shot outdoors. There were shots where Luv Kush were chasing monsters or they would go out in search of the Swarna Kamal. Since the set was located in Baroda, it did get hot during the day-long shoot schedules but Perin Malde, who played the role of Luv had his own ways of combating summer.

Sharing his challenging experiences, Perin says, “The sequences had to be shot in real locations. We used to go to these forests and drylands and since we were shooting during the summers, the temperatures used to go up to 40-45 degrees. Since it was a mythological show, we were not even properly covered, we had no footwear, we were just wearing a dhoti and just one piece of cloth to cover our upper body. I remember it used to get really difficult shooting in the forest since it was covered in thorns. There are scenes where we are running barefoot in the forest and we have even ended up bleeding. The other location was just a dryland with huge rocks, and the ground used to get so heated up, we would have burns on our feet by the time we packed up.”

Further speaking on how they received special care from everyone on the set, Perin added, “Luckily the production had arranged for doctors that used to be on sets all the time and all the safety measures were taken care of too. Also, since we were the only kids, everybody used to be very protective of us. Be it the spot dadas or the production crew, everyone used to take great care of us. We used to have energy drinks ready on set all the time and have them right after every shot. My mother used to keep wet towels ready and wrap them around me during the breaks. It will be fair to say that I have legit given my blood and sweat to the show. But even after all this I don't think there was ever a day where we didn't want to go and shoot. Every single day on set was so exciting. I was definitely living every kid's dream.”Anand Sagar’s Ramayan is entertaining million viewers once again.Ramayan, the epic tale of promises and ideologies is aired every evening at 7.30pm and repeat telecast at 9.30am the following day on Dangal channel.