His numerous fashion and celebrity photo shoots have proved beyond doubt the mastery of Shani Shaki when it comes to the camera. But now, the photographer-turned-actor is trying to master another tool — the drums!
Shani has been trying to pick up the skill for his role in his upcoming movie, Rockstar (previously On the Rocks), directed by V.K. Prakash. The musical rom-com stars Thaikoodam Bridge-fame Siddharth Menon in the lead as a singer named Ananth Abraham.
“Siddharth is the rock star of the movie and I play the drummer in his band. Since I had some sequences where I was required to act like I was playing the drums, I wanted to pick up at least a few basic drumming moves to make the scenes look authentic.”
“I had absolutely no idea about playing the drums or about music. I wanted to learn to play at least a few numbers before the shoot.” He picked up his first drumming lessons from none other than Thaikkudam Bridge! “On the first day of the shoot, Thaikkudam Bridge had come down to the sets to perform live. So I tried to learn a few beats from their drummer, but I’m still not sure how much I was able to pick up and how good my playing is. I hope the effort that I put in shows and the scenes look convincing enough for the audience,” he says.
The shoot of the movie took place predominantly in Bangalore. The film also stars Eva Pavithran, Prakash Bare, Anumol, Divyadarshan, Mallika Sukumaran and Poornima Bhagyaraj.
“The shoot was really fun. I didn’t feel like it was a film set at all. It felt more like chilling out with friends. Be it VKP, the other cast members or the crew, they were all my friends. So it was a good experience,” he adds.
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