Shah Rukh keeps chawl folks awake

Residents of Vinayak Vasudev Chawl, Chinchpokli, spent a sleepless night yesterday as the 'underworld' stormed its premises. There was chaos, excitement and even pin-drop silence as the don spent the night there.

The don is none other than Shah Rukh Khan, who is the lead actor in director Farhan Akhtar's new film, Don — a remake of the popular Amitabh starrer.

From 8 pm to 4.30 am, the unit was busy shooting on the first-floor of the chawl at Bakra Wada. The one-storeyed building houses approximately 200 people, all of whom were asked to stay indoors and maintain silence during the shoot.

Tight security

As Shah Rukh and Boman Irani faced the camera, a group of 20 security guards worked on keeping the noise level at minimum. Raju, the chawl accountant, said, "The unit had booked the entire building for the shoot.

They asked everyone to stay indoors and maintain silence. No one was allowed to watch the shoot. Everyone was indoors." He added, however, that a few fans managed to get a glimpse of their stars by standing close to the railway tracks.

Inconvenienced

While they returned home with a smile, Ramesh, a resident of the chawl, complained of inconvenience. "I had gone out for some work…when I returned, the shooting had commenced. The security guards didn't allow me to get in. I kept telling them I live there, but they wouldn't listen," he complained.

The crew, however, enjoyed shooting at the chawl. "It was great fun working overnight at the chawl," said Irani. Incidentally, the scene shot last night had Irani asking Shah Rukh, a chawl resident in the film, to step into the shoes of a formidable don.