Tahir Raj Bhasin loves the cooler climes. In fact, he spent more than a month in the mountains when Coronavirus cases began rising across the country. However, the actor faced extremely chilly weather in Ladakh during his shoot this April, before he could rest it out in Manali. He was in the beautiful, but tough terrain to shoot for a web project.

Talking about the challenging schedule, Tahir says, “The Ladakh schedule was testing because we were shooting at -10 degrees. Also, Ladakh is at a higher altitude, so that was an issue, too, as you have to acclimatize before you get comfortable, and even then, you often find yourself out of breath. It looks stunning visually, but I have never battled so much with nature for a performance. For a 6 am call time, we had to wake up at 4 am. You have no idea what it feels like when hand sanitiser is sprayed on your hands at -10 degrees, but we had to keep doing it, along with following other protocols.”

The Chhichhore actor feels that leading the cast adds to an actor’s responsibility, especially during a time like this. “When you are shooting at a remote location, you may not have a medical facility nearby, but at the same time, you are checking your newsfeed, so you are aware of what’s happening around you,” he says, adding, “As the lead actor, I felt a certain sense of responsibility. During a shooting schedule, your first priority is to be healthy, so that the shoot isn’t impacted. Of course, it affects the studio and the producer, but the other thing at the back of your mind as the lead is that, if something happens to you, all those who have struggled to earn in the last year — set designers, carpenters, make-up artistes, spot boys, security guards — their livelihood would be impacted, too. We know that work was hard to come by in the last year for people across departments, and that’s motivation enough to keep working and going that extra mile to ensure that you stay safe.”