Sham Kaushal admits that Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama, Bajirao Mastani, is undoubtedly his biggest film in a career spanning over two decades. It had two big action sequences, including a couple of wars, and several smaller sequences mounted on a lavish scale. And what made his job doubly challenging is that the film at the core is a love story, but since both the lead characters are warriors, who fought separately and together, the action sequences had to be designed in a way to take the story and their romance forward. “It's story-driven and character-driven. And had to be honest to the era in which it unfolds,“ explains the veteran action director.

Keeping these parameters in mind, Kaushal started work on the film nine months before the baby was due (read went on the floors). He made graphs and charts with precise shot divisions which then translated into an animated story board. He met Bhansali with them several times since it was the filmmaker's vision he would be bringing to the screen, and when he got his nod of approval, presented his prep to the entire team.

“I discussed every shot with the VFX, editing, sound, art, every department, as also the actors, since I knew I would be working closely with all of them. Sanjay's passion and quest for perfection charged all of us,“ Kaushal reminisces. He was determined not to be inspired by any previous film, Hollywood or Bollywood, not even his own Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Asoka, but create something which was fresh and original.

One of Bajirao Mastani's highlights was the war for Bundelkhand with the Mughal governor Muhammed Khan Bangash seizing the fort, wounding and capturing King Chatrasal, who appealed to Peshwa Bajirao for help. It took them 18 days to shoot that war sequence in Jaipur. There were 700-800 riders of which around 250 were stuntmen and the others local equistreans, 500 horses and 25 elephants.

“Everything went off smoothly till the last day of the shoot. In fact, we had canned the last shot which had Ranveer and Deepika double riding, but went for a retake. And Ranveer slipped from the horse and injured his shoulder,“ narrates Sham, pointing out that it was an accident which normally would have resulted in only minor injuries but unfortunately, in this case their hero had to undergo a surgery and could return to action only after five months. “The day he returned to film a war sequence we all forgot the accident. That was the only way to go forward, fearlessly.“

The fight master is all praise for the actor who he has directed earlier in films, for his energy and passion. “I call him my 'Sher puttar'. Once the camera is switched on, he puts his heart and soul into a shot. Other actors I urge on with, 'Come on', with Ranveer I have to say, 'Control,'“ he chuckles.

Both Ranveer and Deepika learnt horse riding and sword fighting for the film. Kaushal is equally impressed with the actress with whom he worked in her debut film, Om Shanti Om. “Deepika is dedicated to her craft, takes pains to understand the emotional nuances of a sequence and is very down-to-earth,“ he says, recalling a sequence in which she is attacked and has to fight with a child on her back and a sword in hand. “It took eight days to film that and required agility and patience. But Deepika, like Mastani, proved to be a great warrior.“

Kaushal who has worked with Bhansali since his directorial debut, Khamoshi, remembers jokingly reprimanding him for calling him only for a slap or a sequence where the heroine's pallu catches fire till Ram Leela came along. “That was big on action, Bajirao Mastani is bigger. Now Sanjay has become more violent than me,“ he laughs. “He enjoys action and is so completely involved that I have to also tell him. 'Sanjay control.'“