Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 10, 2015)

Priya Seth prepped up for six months before she started filming the Akshay Kumar starrer, Airlift, set in 1990 Kuwait during the headline-grabbing Gulf War. "I read a number of books and some articles online. There was one titled Inside The Desert Storm written six months after the incident, which really helped me with my research. The idea was to present an accurate, authentic picture," says the Director of Photography (DoP) who shot the recreated scenes of the destruction caused by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army.

She admits that Kuwait has changed drastically in the last quarter of a century with concrete structures giving way to glass high-rises. So they had to scout for a location, which was similar to 1990s Kuwait. For a while they considered Beirut but it looked far more bombed out than Kuwait was, so they finally zeroed in on the seaside city of Ras al-Khaimah which is similar both geographically and architecturally to Kuwait. Priya reveals that the production designer created an entire street littered with burnt cars and soldiers. "We were stunned with the result, it looked so convincingly real," exults the cinematographer who filmed with multiple cameras. "We didn't want to miss out on anything so even when the main shot was being picturised on Akshay, we had other cameras set up in different parts of the sets to capture reactions of the other artistes in the background."

Priya reminisces with a laugh that the locals of Ras al-Khaimah were initially stunned to see 50 to 60 soldiers walking the street but soon took the shoot in their stride. The unit had all permissions in place so there was never any trouble. In fact, they have used local college boys to play soldiers. "Once we gave them guns, they started walking around with a swagger. And once they sat outside the hotel where the unit was put up, polishing their guns. The other guests assumed they were for real and we had a major panic situation which was eventually diffused by the staff who explained to the guests that they were part of a shoot."

They also shot at the RAK airport, recreating the entrance and putting up a new signboard so it could pass for Kuwait airport. "After that we shifted base to a local school in Jodhpur that was done up to look like an Indian school in the Middle East which was turned into a camp for refugees in the desert. It was a huge sequence with almost 500 people in the frame, many of them locals. We made sure none of them wore anything that resembled Rajasthani attire," says Priya.

Over 15 years, Priya has successfully made a niche for herself in what is predominantly a man's world. Has she ever faced any kind of gender bias? "This question has cropped up earlier too. Initially, I was only worried about whether I would get work and now after a period war film like Airlift and all the action sequences I have shot for it, I hope this question won't crop up again," she signs off with a laugh.