Director Tinu Desai shares why his team dug 40-foot deep hole for 'Mission Raniganj' shoot

Akshay Kumar. Pic/Yogen Shah

Director Tinu Suresh Desai, who is awaiting the release of his upcoming Akshay Kumar-starrer film 'Mission Raniganj', opened up on the challenges that he and his team faced during the production of the film. He particularly opened up on the incident when the team dug up a 40-foot deep hole.

'Mission Raniganj' is a film depicting a coal mine accident that sent shockwaves through the nation and the world. The film narrates the relentless efforts of the rescue team led by the valiant Jaswant Singh Gill (portrayed by Akshay Kumar).

To ensure that the visuals portrayed the authentic and relatable essence of this tragic incident, Desai and his team dug a hole of about 40 feet deep into the earth.

The reason behind this ambitious undertaking was to allow the actors to genuinely experience the pain and suffocation that real miners endured while trapped inside the coal mine. This immersion in the physical challenges faced by the miners was expected to translate into a more convincing and empathetic portrayal on the silver screen.

Elaborating on the same, Desai said, "It was a challenging film to shoot, primarily because a significant portion was filmed on location. Given the film's subject matter, our goal was to maintain authenticity and relatability in the backdrop and setting. As a result, we collectively decided to excavate a hole underground, reaching depths of around 30 to 40 feet, resembling just the 1/10th portion of an actual coal mine."

The film also stars Parineeti Chopra, Kumud Mishra, Pavan Malhotra, Ravi Kishan, Varun Badola, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Rajesh Sharma, Virendra Saxena, Shishir Sharma, Ananth Mahadevan, Jameel Khan, Sudhir Pandey, Bachan Pachera, Mukesh Bhatt and Omkar Das Manikpuri.

The film also marks Tinu Suresh Desai's next thriller after 'Rustom' and his second collaboration with Akshay Kumar.

The director continued, "The most daunting task was to recreate a set that authentically resembled a coal mine from that era. Additionally, we aimed to evoke the genuine sense of suffocation experienced by the trapped miners during the tragic event. We provided the actors with the directive to immerse themselves in the same conditions as real miners. I'm thankful to Vashuji, Jackky, Deepshikha & everyone at Pooja Entertainment for facilitating the necessary resources to execute this meticulous mining work while ensuring the safety of all our crew members and actors."

Produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh and Ajay Kapoor, 'Mission Raniganj' features music by Jjust Music. The film will be released in theatres on October 6, 2023.

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