In an age of CGI creatures, Shankar Iyer still supplies ‘live’ animals and birds for films and TV serials. And he can often get them to ‘act’, too

Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 22, 2018)

In a scene from a forthcoming thriller, the film’s lead saves a squirrel from getting crushed under a scooter. She picks up the creature and places it on her palm to comfort it. That this scene was shot in a single take, says a lot about animal handler Shankar Narayan Iyer’s work. In an age in which most animals that we see on screen are computer generated, Iyer still sources ‘live’ ones for films and TV shows. And, remarkably, he can even get them to ‘act’ sometimes.

About the film involving the squirrel, Iyer says: “Before the shoot, I sourced 10 baby squirrels and cared for them for a while. I taught them to swim and when they’d get tired, I would offer my palm for them to climb on and rest. Initially, they would bite and resist, but later they got accustomed to me.” But getting them to ‘act’ required Iyer to collect and pour their urine at a precise spot on the sets.

“Squirrels have an immaculate sense of smell, so they scurried to the spot and we got the shot.” In his 30-year career, Iyer has sourced almost every animal, bird, reptile and even rodent (he scavenged through sewers to source 100 rats for a scene in Shah Rukh Khan’s Josh) for commercials, films and TV. Some of the animals who have appeared in recent Bollywood films include the stray dogs in Aiyaary and Pari; the horses in Padmaavat, and even the goat which played the ‘lead’ in the Marathi film Idak: The Goat, which will be screened at the Cannes festival next month. Iyer has also assisted international productions, providing elephants for Xuanzang, a Chinese historical, and even sourced 500 butterflies for another Chinese production.

To cater to diverse requests, Iyer has built up a network of pet owners, agencies and trainers from across the country and abroad. Besides sourcing animals, he also trains and handles them on set, helping them perform to the script’s requirement. His efforts have earned him various monikers in the film industry. “Most clients have my number saved as the kuttewallah, ghodewallah or kabootarwallah. I have even been credited in films like that,” laughs Iyer, who supplied the pigeons for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1989 thriller, Parinda.

Over the years, Iyer has adopted some of the animals he has worked with. His Badlapur farmhouse is home to horses, dogs, goats, birds, cows, roosters and donkeys. When we meet the 55-year-old at an outdoor location, he’s deep in conversation with Radhe (right), a blue and gold macaw, which is perched on his shoulder. Iyer takes a sip of mango juice and then raises the glass to the bird, who dips its beak into the glass. Radhe, who was acquired from a Mumbai breeder for Rs 1.10 lakh, has featured in 200 episodes of the Bengali TV show Adorini. While he was advised on the bird’s preferred diet of biscuits, Iyer discovered its fondness for idlis and dosas. “Whatever you give them should be easily digestible,” he explains. Having worked in the Bengali show, Radhe now understands instructions in the language. “Even the stray dogs I sourced for Pari from Kolkata could understand Bengali.” While this required Shankar to himself learn some elementary Bengali to communicate with his talent, the shoot also brought out another nonnegotiable. “Before shooting starts, they have to be familiarised with their surroundings. So we constructed a tent for the dogs and allowed them time to get used to the set,” he says, adding that he insisted on holding up the shoot till the strays had begun to feel the location was “their territory”.

In an ideal situation, Iyer prefers that his animals get to know their co-stars as well. This is done by asking the actor to feed the animal and spend time with it. “But one can’t predict an animal’s mood,” he says. “We can only try to keep them happy while filming.” To ensure that his animals are not overburdened, Iyer even purchased two similar-looking Malabar goats, who took turns to play Idak in the eponymous film whose central plot explores the bond between a man and a goat. “No one on the set could tell them apart,” Iyer says with a smile. Before the shoot, he lived with the goats for two weeks in a flat to learn their habits. “We need to be attuned to their natural way of life,” says Shankar who informs the unit about the smallest details of every animal’s habits before committing to a job. “You cannot demand a cow for a 5am shoot since that is the time it is milked.”

Iyer, who was recently in Goa with two horses for a Dharma production, “can barely keep track of the films’ names”. His schedule is a scribble of shoot dates and the number of animals required — 20 buffaloes, 10 donkeys, six horses and such. “Travelling with animals means being sensitive to their needs, and one has to take breaks every 100 km for rest and feeding,” says Iyer, who acquired a miniature Vechur cow from Kerala last month. Since the cow barely comes up to his knees, it’s not surprising that she got a ride back to Mumbai in his SUV.

Iyer was 17 when his family moved to Mumbai from Ooty, and he was gifted a Labrador puppy named Tiger. In the late 1980s, the two were spotted by an assistant of adman Prahlad Kakar, and Tiger was cast in a commercial for an electronics brand. He was later swamped with requests to work in films such as Biwi No 1, and ads including one for a cola brand starring Shah Rukh Khan. Before the dog passed away in 2008, he featured in 120 productions. Managing Tiger on the sets gave Iyer the practise he needed for handling animals — and making it his career.

Regulations now require filmmakers to toe a strict line while dealing with animals. In 2001, the Animal Welfare Board published the Performing Animals Rules and banned the use of lions, tigers, bears, monkeys, panthers and even bulls. “Green parrots and snakes can’t be used for shoots either,” says Iyer, who sometimes advises clients to shoot in Thailand, where the rules pertaining to animals are more relaxed.

In a world where computers can simulate entire worlds, does Shankar feel redundant? “CG is expensive and you need real animals for reference to track natural movements,” he says, adding that his 30 horses were digitally multiplied to become hundreds in Bajirao Mastani. Since Shankar bills studios based on the animal used, purchasing it often becomes more cost effective. “For a Malayalam film, I had to supply 20 donkeys. Renting one would cost Rs 1,000 per day, so for a 20-day shoot, purchasing them was better.” The daily fees that Iyer charges varies from Rs 5,000 for a horse to Rs 50,000 for an elephant, without transportation and affiliated expenses. Surprisingly, it’s not the exotic creatures that cost more. “Strays are more expensive than bred dogs as they have to be trained and handled,” says Iyer, who charges Rs 10,000 for a pariah as opposed to Rs 7000 for a pedigree.

Special appearance songs and cameos are this year’s USP as almost every A-list name is being roped in to either add star power or enhance narratives

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 10, 2018)

They were referred to as ‘guest appearances’ and ‘item numbers’ in the past, used as crowd-pulling gimmicks, with filmmakers calling on star friends to enhance their credits. They ranged from a hip-swinging chartbuster like “Chaiya Chaiya” and “Munni” to a surprise twist in the tale (Bobby Deol in Dostana), from a voiceover (Amitabh Bachchan as the sutradhar in Shatranj Ke Khiladi and Lagaan and Aamir Khan voicing the thoughts of the canine Pluto Mehra in Dil Dhadakne Do) to a fleeting pop-up in the finale.

Back in 1956, Nargis turned up in a Yashoda-like avatar in the closing reels of Raj Kapoor’s Jagte Raho, offering water to his parched peasant, a timeless moment in her last RK film. Six decades later, Ajay Devgn shows up in his debut Marathi production, Aapla Manus, as an estranged son, and rumour mills are buzzing that he could make a special appearance in another home production, the Pradeep Sarkardirected Eela featuring wife Kajol.

Now referred to in more politically correct terms as ‘special appearances’ and ‘cameos’, they are no longer incorporated only as USPs. “Once, small-time producers desperate to sell their film roped in an A-lister or two to boost the project’s commercial viability and tom-tommed about these ‘special appearances’. Today, R Balki doesn’t feel the need to publicise the presence of lucky mascot, Amitabh Bachchan, in Pad Man. The audience may enjoy seeing one more favourite actor on screen, but his or her presence is not going to guarantee the film a good run at the box-office,” reasons trade analyst Amod Mehra.

Perhaps that’s why Jacqueline Fernandez, who is currently matching latka-jhatkas to Madhuri Dixit’s Tezaab hit song “Ek Do Teen” for Baaghi 2 is shooting in a closed studio set so her ‘look’ is not leaked. And director Ahmed Khan assures that the script justifies the song in the Tiger Shroff-Disha Patani action thriller.

Jacqueline has done many such special appearance songs in the past, from “Dhanno” in Housefull to “Ishq Karenge” in Bangistan, and so has Madhuri Dixit, from “Makhna” with Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda in David Dhawan’s Diwali dhamaka Bade Miyan Chote Miyan to the flirtatious “Ghagra” with Ranbir Kapoor in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. But special appearances are not just about song-and-dance. In some cases they are integral to the plot. Neeraj Pandey’s upcoming espionage drama Aiyaary, which by his own admission is closest to his first film A Wednesday, reunites him with Naseeruddin Shah. “Ten years ago, on the last day of my first film, I was shooting with Naseer saab in an under-construction building. Coincidentally, I started Aiyaary with him on a similar location, and in many ways it was like picking up from where we had left off,” says the filmmaker. Naseer who wove an intricate plot to kill four militants in the first film with the threat of a bomb, returns as a security guard in this one to unravel a housing scam in Mumbai.

Today, this may sound more fiction than fact, but Shah Rukh Khan would have made his screen debut in Pradeep Krishnen’s In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, penned by Booker-winning novelist Arundhati Roy. But before he could reach the theatres, his two scenes were edited out. Since then however, the Badshah has made many other special turns without them getting snipped out, the last being in Salman Khan’s Tubelight as a magician who convinces the protagonist that with conviction he can move mountains. Salman returned the favour by playing himself in SRK’s upcoming Christmas release, Zero. Watching the two superstars shoot, Aanand L Rai admitted he stopped being a director and was clapping like an audience. “It was my fanboy moment!’ he exulted.

The film reportedly has a number of other Bollywood biggies, from Sridevi, Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukerji and Karisma Kapoor to Kajol, Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt also bringing their 70 mm star power to this dwarf story.

Vashu Bhagnani’s next, Welcome To New York, which revolves around a Gujarati fashion designer, a farmer from Punjab and a Bollywood award show in the Big Apple, also has Riteish Desmukh, Lara Dutta, Boman Irani, Rana Daggubati and Karan Johar joining Sonakshi Sinha and Diljit Dosanjh in the poster. And its leading man recently revealed to Mirror that he also filmed some scenes with Salman and Katrina Kaif which weren’t planned. “They shot whenever they had some free time so I had to be alert all the time,” he laughed.

Directors making cameos is not a new trend. Taking a cue from Alfred Hitchcock, Subhash Ghai waltzed through the frame in many of his films. Even the reclusive Gulzar was seen among the audience in Basu Bhattacharya’s 1978 film Griha Pravesh, appreciatively listening to “Logon Ke Ghar Mein Rehta Hoon.”

Anurag Kashyap who has done a lot of theatre was persuaded to play the bad guy in Sonakshi Sinha’s Akira and now will be seen in Sudhir Mishra’s DaasDev. “The whole story revolves around what happens to his character. He comes at the beginning and at the end, but he resonates through the film because of his performance and his persona,” says Sudhir, adding that he cast him because Anurag is like his kid brother and a fine actor. “The detailing of a film is in the casting as the actors create your world and the overall impact. Every face and visual tells the story.”

Last year, around Christmas, Mahesh Bhatt flew down to Kolkata to face the camera for a cameo which comes at a “significant point in the narrative” in wife Soni Razdan’s film, Yours Truly. The filmmaker described it as a wonderful end to the year, asserting that at a time when family albums are fast disappearing, this movie featuring both their parents will be a fond memory for their children.