Not known to many that Esha Deol Takhtani has fear for fire. She generally avoids scenes that would ignite fire. While shooting for a very critical scene for her forthcoming film Cakewalk, director Ram Kamal Mukherjee wanted Esha to set flame to a cake, for which she had to pour alcohol on the cake and set it ablaze with the lighter.
A source from the set informs, “Esha made sure that head chef Neelabh Sahay from Novotel Kolkata was present at the shoot, and she in fact asked the chef to demonstrate exactly how they set fire to the cake. After Neelabh Sahay showed her the process she wanted director Ram Kamal to enact the scene exactly the way he wanted her to perform.”
When quizzed, director Ram Kamal said, “Esha is a thorough professional, and did the scene exactly the way I had visualized it. It was a hand-held camera shot, and we were shooting it at a real location. It was a close up shot, so we had cutters and other camera equipment which were highly inflamable. So we assured her that she will be safe, because it required her to bring her face close to the fire. Finally she did that shot in one take and everyone clapped. That’s a very crucial scene in the film.”
Esha plays the role of a bakery chef Shilpa Sen who prepares Bombay Alaska (considered as one of the toughtest to bake) in the film. “When Ram Kamal wanted me to do that scene I was petrified. People think that I am a bindaas girl, but I am a big ‘fattu’ when it comes to fire. I’d rather be safe than sorry,” laughs Esha.
Eventually when Neelabh and Ram Kamal demonstrated the scene couple of times, Esha became confident enough to do the scene. “I liked the way cinematographer Pravatendu Mondol captured the moment. The challenge is that you have to flame the cake but it cannot melt the cream. I guess that’s why it’s termed as the tougest to bake,” informs Esha. Produced by Aritra Das, Shailendra Kumar and Dinesh Gupta, Cakewalk is slated for October release.
