Kunal Kapoor Shares His Experience of Filming Grand-Scale Action Sequences for Ramayana, Talks About Working with Yash and Hollywood Stunt Coordinator Terry Notary

Bringing an epic like Ramayana to life requires more than just elaborate sets and grand visuals; it calls for immense imagination, precision and the ability to immerse oneself in a world that often exists beyond what meets the eye. Kunal Kapoor, who essays the role of Indra Dev in one of India’s most ambitious cinematic spectacles, recently opened up about his experience filming the film’s action sequences, particularly the challenges and creative possibilities of performing against a green screen.

Reflecting on the experience of shooting without physical surroundings and relying entirely on imagination to bring a scene alive, Kunal shares, “The thing with the green screen is that there is nothing available to you there is no real palace, sunrise everything is out of your imagination. So, you have to pretty much create that world in your head. But that can be a lot of fun as well. The most important thing as an actor is your imagination. It takes you back to your childhood where you would play and have a lot of fun. For me, it was a lot of fun,” says the on-screen Indra Dev.

The film also marks Kunal’s first collaboration with Yash, who portrays the formidable Ravana. Speaking about working alongside the KGF star and his experience sharing screen space with him, Kunal says, “Yash is a great guy to work with. He’s very grounded, easy, very relaxed. He’s obviously a huge star across the country right now,” highlighting the actor’s grounded personality despite his massive stardom.

Adding another layer of expertise to the film’s ambitious action sequences is internationally acclaimed Hollywood stunt coordinator Terry Notary, known for his work in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes and several other acclaimed projects. Talking about the advantage of having someone with his experience on board, Kunal says, “As far as the action goes, I think we got very lucky because we had somebody like Terry, because he has done the Planet of the Apes and a whole bunch of English films. And he’s someone who actually trained all the apes in Planet of the Apes to imbibe that body language.”

Elaborating on what made working with Terry particularly distinctive, Kunal points out how his understanding of movement and body language went beyond conventional action choreography. He shares, “What I found really fascinating about working with him was he was not just an action director, but he was also a body language expert, a director who was directing action. And it’s very different from working with an action director. To have that kind of talent on the film makes the job very easy for everybody else because you’re not shooting an action sequence; you’re shooting something that is a really important part of a story close to all our hearts. So, when you find a talent who looks at it like that and approaches it like that, it really elevates the work.”

Kunal Kapoor’s portrayal of Indra Dev offers audiences a glimpse into the film’s grand mythological universe, with the recently released US promo showcasing his striking appearance as the God of Gods. Sporting a Vajra in one hand and arriving on his vaahan Airavata, the actor’s transformation into the celestial deity promises a compelling blend of mythology and cinematic spectacle.

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana releases in theatres on November 5.