Pulimurugan stunt choreographer Peter Hein at IFFIPanaji: Stunt choreographer Peter Hein has lavished praise on actor Mohanlal saying that he has learned a lot about hard work from the latter.
Addressing a crowd of film personalities, film buffs and media persons who were here to attend a master class by Hein on stunt direction as part of the ongoing IFFI, the eminent stunt director recollected his experiences working with Mohanlal for Pulimurugan, directed by Vaisakh. Hein shared his happiness over the film entering Rs 100-crore club despite Mollywood being a small film industry.
"Pulimurugan was started on a relatively small budget. The makers of the film came to me and asked me to help them choreograph the stunt scenes. I told them there was no need to ask for my help, because I would always love to serve those who are in need of my service," Hein said.
"The first thing I told the crew was that Mohanlal sir needed training and it was opposed by some. However, Mohanlal sir said he would do anything. Thus, we conducted training sessions in Vietnam. Lal sir underwent rigorous training there disregarding the fact that he is above 50. He worked hard. He was like a kid," Hein said amid loud applause from the crowd. "I learned a lot from Lal sir," he added.
Hein got emotional when he remembered his early days as a stunt assistant in Tamil cinema. He recollected the days working with eminent stunt master Kanal Kannan for the film Mudhalvan, directed by Shankar.
His memories about shooing an adventurous scene during, which he might have burned himself to death, left the audience shocked. Hein, the tough looking man who is behind the stunt scenes of many blockbusters, including Ghajini, Robot and Baahubali, said he cried looking at his then seven-month-old son before leaving for the shoot of that scene.
"I woke up at 3 in the morning and asked my wife, what will she do if something happens to me. Then I looked at my son and I couldn't stop myself from crying. My wife had no clue about what I was going to do that time. I decided to do the sequence because without that, the film wouldn't have been perfect," Hein said.
On the process of choreographing stunt, Hein said he listens to the script with absolute attention before arranging the stunts. "I try to learn what is happening before and after an action sequence. It helps me create a scene accordingly," he said.
Hein said he was happy to be part of Ghajini, Shivaji, Maghadheera and Pulimurugan, the films that entered the Rs 100 crore club for the first time in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, respectively.
Hein said he would soon open an academy for stunt choreography with the help of the government while he was responding to a question on the need to ensure safety of stunt artists while shooting, in the wake of the recent accident which claimed the lives of two artists in Kannada industry during a film shoot. However, he did not divulge into the details of the project.
A recipient of several awards, including Filmfare Award for Best Action Director, Hein has worked for over 70 movies across the country.
