Nana calmed irate crowd during 'Rajneeti'

Feb 10, 2009 Subhash K Jha

Mumbai, Feb 10 (IANS) Nana Patekar is a trifle upset with Prakash Jha for losing his cool with an unruly mob while shooting a rally scene for "Rajneeti" in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and says that creative people should rather conserve their energy.

"I'm a bit upset with Prakash. What's the need to lose your temper? A creative artiste needs to preserve his energy for more valuable things," Nana told IANS.

A mob situation scene was being canned last week for "Rajneeti". The volatile sequence was being shot at the Kotra ground just outside Bhopal and a massive stage had been erected to shoot the rally. When a part of the crowd went out of control, Jha, known for his short temper while shooting, screamed at the crowds who apparently protested back in strong words and threatened to stop work.

If it wasn't for Nana's timely intervention, a part of the heavy crowd participating in the political rally scene would've gone out of control.

"Unruly crowds are not a problem for me. I'm used to them. Prakash tends to scream at the crowds. But crowds are a congregation of faces. You just need to recognise those faces. Pyaar do to sab waapas pyar dete hain (if you give love, then you get it in return)," Nana said.

Jha agrees that Nana, who was also seen in his "Apaharan", was a big help.

"It was a sequence where the ruling party was holding a rally to honour the chief minister. A group of activists led by Naseeruddin Shah had to descend on the rally to disrupt it," Jha said.

"When I'm shooting, I become a different person. Nana was a big help in defusing the tension. He keeps telling me not to scream. Crowd management isn't easy," added Jha.