Kargil Vijay Diwas: How Mohanlal shot for Kurukshetra in Dras despite low oxygen, reveals filmmaker Major Ravi

Filmmaker Ravi reveals how Mohanlal shot for Malayalam film Kurukshetra in Dras and Kargil.

Filmmaker Major Ravi, SM (Retd), served the Indian Army before entering the world of films and directing several projects, including the 2008 film Kurukshetra. The only southern-Indian language film with the India-Pakistan Kargil War at its core, it starred Mohanlal as Colonel Mahadevan.

Filmmaker Ravi with actor Mohanlal.

Unlike most films about the war, Kurukshetra was shot in Dras, Kargil. A huge unit was taken from Kerala to shoot in tough weather conditions and low oxygen levels but the film’s hero Mohanlal didn’t show signs of any weakness, recalls Ravi.

“Many junior artistes had come from Kerala to play soldiers. The entire crew fainted at a few places because the oxygen levels were very low. But Mohanlal never collapsed — he was, in fact, the first one to run during action scenes, amongst other soldiers. He would overtake everyone, he had that stamina. We were both commandos as well as artistes in and out,” says Ravi, who has directed the actor in several films such as Keerthi Chakra (2006) and Kandahar (2010).

For Ravi, who was also posted near the Line of Control from 1988 to 1992, the understanding of the area came in handy at several places. He shot in real locations to give viewers a feel of what the Kargil War was for the soldiers. As part of his two-year posting in Kargil, he served as an undercover intelligence officer.

“I knew the place like the back of my hand, like, kahan khade hone se the Pakistanis could see us and from where they could not. This place from where we were shooting, I could see Tiger Hill and even the Kargil artillery firing range. It was off Kargil, off the airfield, where we could fire weapons. I knew that we could shoot scenes there. So, it was very easy to shoot for me,” he says.