Water Mess!---Article

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Water Mess!

Although Sanjeeda Sheikh suffers from acute hydrophobia, she had to shoot an elaborate underwater scene in Kayamath

Back to Section Stories Posted On Saturday, October 27, 2007

Ranjib Mazumder

Sanjeeda Sheikh

Sanjeeda Sheikh, who plays Ayesha in Balaji Telefilms' Kayamath had a terrible experience recently. The actress was supposed to shoot a scene where she attempts to commit suicide by jumping in to a pond. But, what most don't know is that Sanjeeda suffers from hydrophobia (she dreads water) and was extremely uncomfortable with the idea. She only agreed to shoot the scene after much convincing. What made things even more difficult for her was that the creative team decided to shoot the drowning scene elaborately.

Says a unit member, "Ayesha committing suicide comes as a big shock to the audience. Needless to say, we wanted to shoot it elaborately. But, Sanjeeda has hydrophobia and she just could not stand the idea of shooting underwater. She shot the scene after we managed to convince her. But, she had a lot of difficulty."

Adds another unit member, "We show Ayesha jumping in to a pond. However, the pond where we were shooting was still and dirty. So, we shot the unerwater close-ups in a clean swimming pool. As Sanjeeda is hydrophobic, we had to take several shots after every two seconds. We then edited the scene so that it looks like a single long scene. It took a lot of time to finish the scene."

Sanjeeda says, "I am hydrophobic and the scene really rattled me. I simply can't stand the sight of water. The scene required me to jump in to a pond. I was extremely scared. When it comes to work we have to do a lot of things which we don't do in real life. I had to do the scene as I was told that it was a very crucial for the storyline."

Sanjeeda gives an account of the trouble she had to face while shooting the scene. "The pond water was dirty, so we shot the under water close-ups at a pool. But, I took a long time to shoot the scene. Every two seconds, I was coming out of the water and gasping for breath. I was so scared that I could not be in the water more than two seconds. So, while any other artiste would have completed the shot in just two or three takes, I took far longer to wrap up the scene. Although everyone praised my performance, only I know what I went through," she says.

Due to her phobia, Sanjeeda hasn't learnt swimming. "My mother always wanted me to learn swimming. But, I always stayed away from joining any classes. In fact, I maintain a safe distance when I go near any beach. I hope I don't have to face any such situation ever again," says Sanjeeda.