PRIYANKA KOTHARI

PRIYANKA KOTHARI

Spooked in the Jungle: Priyanka

But, yes, filmmakers revisit their own experiences. Not many know that
RGV’s Agyaat, an adventure-thriller about a film unit shooting in
dense jungles (with the absolutely hot Priyanka Kothari playing the
lead actress), has been partially inspired from certain real-life
experiences that his unit shooting the Urmila Matondkar-Fardeen Khan
film Jungle had in 2000.

Jungle was shot in the Bandipur Forest Reserve in Karnataka. RGV
revealed, “The forests were absolutely dense and the resort we were
put up in was around 50 kms away from the location. In the course of
the 40-day schedule, several unit members had paranormal experiences.
Many talked about how they felt they were being watched. It wasn’t
exactly a supernatural experience but some people, including the lead
actors, kept telling me about this eerie feeling they had of someone
in the jungle watching them. One of the girls lost her way for half a
day and when she returned to the unit, she was dumbstruck with fear.
She returned to Mumbai that very day, abandoning the film.”

The filmmaker added, “We couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was. Some
felt it was a wild animal lurking around, others felt it could be
sandalwood smuggler Veerappan (who was killed in 2004), whose men were
keeping a silent watch on us. Whatever it was, it sure spooked the
hell out of us.’’ Since the experience of a film unit shooting deep in
a jungle provided fodder for a dramatic premise, RGV has elaborately
developed it into Agyaat. And like Urmila, who turned up the heat in
Jungle, his current muse Priyanka will scorch the screen this time
around.