Sidharth Malhotra on difficulties of shooting Shershaah 'at 14,000 feet, with low oxygen'

Actor Sidharth Malhotra, in an interview with Hindustan Times, spoke about the difficulties involved in shooting the upcoming film Shershaah, in Kargil. The film is based on the life of Captain Vikram Batra, who died in the 1999 Kargil War.

"We are the first film to shoot in Kargil. And, we were also shooting a film in Kargil, about the Kargil war. We have been as authentic as possible. There were so many physical difficulties. (There was the problem of) low oxygen. We shot at a height of 14,000 feet. Though, the actual war was fought at 17,000 feet height," Sidharth said.

He continued, "We did not have enough infrastructure at these locations. When it rained, we huddled under rocks and umbrellas. I think it is most authentic and real, the way we have shot the film. For me, and most actors, it was a blessing that there was just one camera and one camera person as we shot, to make us feel as real as possible. There was none of the massive set up. At times, when you are there, crouching behind a rock, you kind of forget that you are actually shooting."

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Director Vishnuvardhan, who makes his Hindi debut with Shershaah, also said, "There are so many undiscovered things that you can spot in this place. While filming, we found many such stuff. There are still unexploded mines, you could find shells lying around."

"In fact, we found one. We found... there was one old shell that we found. It was from the Kargil War," Sidharth added as the filmmaker added, "It had got a 100 metre kill radius."

Sidharth Malhotra, along with Kiara Advani and Vishnuvardhan, were in Kargil for the trailer launch of the film, that took place on the eve of Kargil Vijay Diwas on Monday, July 26.