Team Kaadhal Conditions Apply had a gala time 'Shooting' on the set

Nitinsathyaa greets us and says, “Today we are filming a shooting range sequence and actors Mahat Raghavendra and Sana Makbul are getting ready for the scene.” He takes us to the floor and shows the setup and introduces the director of the film Arvind R. “The reason why we had to shoot it indoors is that acquiring permissions in a shooting range is quite difficult across the country. Given the situation, it isn’t ideal to travel away from the city now. Hence, we have erected this set. It has been a fun experience shooting for the film. Kaadhal Conditions Apply is a rom-com that will surely tickle your funny bone,” says Arvind. The director also briefs us about the day’s work. “This scene revolves around Mahat and the girls he dates. He brings them to the shooting range which puts them off. However, there is one girl who finds it exciting who will be the love of his life,” he divulges. Mahat and Sana walk to the sets and are excited to know the dialogues from Arvind. Meanwhile, Nitin ensures that social distancing is maintained and the crew’s masks are up. The actor-producer who bankrolls the film under his banner Shvedh says, “Producing a movie in such situation is a challenging job. You need to watch like a hawk if your crew is maintaining the discipline and sometimes officials drop in to check if we are following SOPs. I ensure that I shoot with a minimal crew; in fact, five people or lesser than that.”

Mahat and Sana finish their shot. Mahat says, “This has been an interesting film from day one. I play a Chennai guy working in an ad agency. It is about how he falls for a girl with whom he shares strange similarities as well as differences. The story revolves around how they come together in life.” Mahat sums up the entire film as ‘an organic process’. “I met Arvind for the first time when I finished Mankatha. We were to do a film earlier but we couldn’t. Then Nitinsathyaa told me that there is this script he wants me to listen to. I wondered if I should do a film at a time when everything is uncertain,” says Mahat and looks around at his assistants. “They are without work and money. They will do well in life only if I work. I didn’t think twice and agreed to do the film. Much to my surprise, Arvind showed up to narrate it,” he smiles. The actor says that the team is like an extended family. “There has never been a dull moment on the sets. Sana is a good friend and it was my wife Prachi who suggested that Sana and I would look good together on the screen. Then there is DD, Maheshwari, and Abishek who comes up with something funny now and then. Overall, it has been amazing,” he says and leaves for a costume change.

Sana casually walks around the studio and says, “I play a small-town girl named Keerthana who has lived in Trichy all her life. She comes to Chennai to join an ad agency. She is a girl who wants to have fun and at the same time knows where to draw a line.” The actress says that she is someone similar off the camera as well. “Keerthana is pretty much Sana. I don’t like to delve into my past nor future. I enjoy my present,” she tells us. On shooting with the team, Sana says, “We don’t play pranks on each other but we pull each other’s legs. Actually, they pull my leg about my Tamil. Be it Mahat or Nitin or director, they make fun of it. We were shooting in a car and my dialogue to Mahat was, ‘I love Messi. Enakku Messina romba pudikum.’ Instead of that, I ended up saying, ‘Naalaiku Messi’, (Tomorrow Messi). He started laughing and said how it still goes well with the lip-sync.” It was late evening and Arvind was figuring out what next. It was indeed a long yet fruitful day for team Kaadhal Conditions Apply.