Hrithik rains fire from the sky

Sources say Fighter has an elaborate set-piece that sees Roshan’s IAF pilot leading an air strike; set of snow-clad small town created over a month in Mumbai for the sequence

Siddharth Anand has displayed his knack for action thrillers with War (2019) and Pathaan (2023). Now, the director has upped the ante by presenting an aerial action extravaganza in Fighter, which sees Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone as Indian Air Force (IAF) officers. While the film has several action sequences, we hear Anand has pulled off an ambitious set-piece that sees Roshan’s character Patty lead an air strike against the enemies. It is said to be one of the film’s most crucial sequences, and was shot over seven days on a massive set in Mumbai.

Siddharth Anand

Sources reveal that Anand apparently took inspiration from a real-life air strike conducted by the IAF, then added his own creative inputs and dramatised it for the Hindi film audience. For the portion, an elaborate set depicting an enemy camp was created at the SRPF Grounds in Jogeshwari by art director Rajat Poddarr, while action directors Se-yeong Oh and Parvez Shaikh designed the stunts. A source says, 

“Since their starting point was a real-life air strike, the art department took references from pictures of the real location, and then made creative changes. They had to depict the air strike taking place over a snow-clad town that houses the enemy facility. So, they built the set of a town over five acres of land at the SRPF ground, and for the close-up shots, used a particular chemical, which when mixed with water, gives the impression of snow. For the wide-angle shots, the production design team used salt to depict snow. The entire set took a month to build, after which Siddharth and the actor filmed the scene in April 2023. The sequence sees Hrithik’s character lead the mission as his team and he fly Mirage 2000s over the terrorist camp and demolish it.”

For the January 25 release, also starring Anil Kapoor, Akshay Oberoi and Karan Singh Grover, the team had to create the on-screen world of the IAF, from the academy to the fighter planes. The source adds, “They designed the Pilatus trainer aircraft, the Sukhoi Su line of aircrafts, and the Mirage 2000. It took 15 to 20 days for each plane to be designed.”

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