The startling confession about starting the workday with alcohol for a scene raises the curtain on a very daring but logistically very challenging method of acting. The Actor is Varun Dhawan who revealed that during the filming of the emotional and intense scene of Jug Jugg Jeeyo where he needed to deliver a speech while really drunk, he and co-star Maniesh Paul decided to drink real alcohol. It was no late-night drinking for them; they began by 7:30 am, just so they could properly capture the very uninhibited, slurred state of being drunk.
Production Pothole
The actors had devoted their time to method acting, and thus a sudden organizational glitch happened. By two o’clock, which was the time earmarked for shooting the scene, Varun and Maniesh Paul were so genuinely drunk that they were slurring their words and finding it difficult to convey the dialogues properly.
The very attempt to make the performance authentic made them incapable of performing the scene well. The director and crew were now confronted with a problematic turn of events: both actors went overly far in their dedication for one day’s shoot. This immediately became a Production Pothole-the shooting had to be stalled. This vital piece of action pertaining to the film’s climax could thus not be completed as originally scheduled.
The ‘Drunk’ Double Take
What happens next is a classic case of cinematic irony. Shooting was postponed to the next day because the first day could not be completed in view of the actors’ genuine drunkenness. Thus, after sobering up, Varun Dhawan and Maniesh Paul had to follow the same morning wake-up call! For the continuity of the shots and to achieve a similar believable state of drunkenness, they had to start drinking again at an almost similar hour the next day.
This was the Drunk Double Take, which constituted an expensive, unusual set of events in itself. It also highlights the extremes to which actors sometimes go for their roles, converting a one-day shoot into a two-day, alcohol-infused commitment to ‘character study.’
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
