One of the more difficult parts of film-making is shooting for a long take that is unbroken or at least gives the feeling that it is an unbroken take. Recently, the action extravaganza, War, has been getting some praise for one fight sequence in the film - Tiger Shroff's entry scene. The action sequence is shot in such a way that it feels like a single take and relies on Tiger Shroff's martial prowess and the skills of the fellow fighters. War: Ranking All the Action Scenes in Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff’s Film From Worst to Best (and Where It Is Inspired From) SPOILER ALERT!

Now continuously-edited scenes are quite fun to watch giving the film a very realistic and sometimes gritty feel. Like there is this Russian film called The Russian Ark that is actually shot in a single take, even with its huge roster of actors and lasting nearly two hours. Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, Alejandro G Iñárritu's Birdman, Sam Mendes' upcoming film 1917 are films that have been shot and edited in such a way the entire film feels like a long take. There are other movies which have crucial scenes taken in a single long tracking shot, like in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas,  Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men and Gravity et al

Even more fun is when that single take happens to be an action sequence, which going by the very idea of involving so much action, is more difficult to shoot. Case in point, you can find such scenes in the John Wick series, Tony Jaa's Ong Bak, Park Wan-Chook's Oldboy (more on this scene ahead), Mathew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service et al.

In Bollywood, such attempts have been rare, but when it happens, they have been memorable. Let's discuss such scenes in Bollywood movies and web-series (SOME SPOILERS AHEAD):

Tiger Shroff's Entry Scene in War

Let's talks about the most recent one. Both Tiger and Hrithik in War get apropos intro scenes. While Hrithik's entry scene focused on making the actor look like a dreamboat, Tiger's intro scene was less glamorous but equally impactful, as it relied on what he does best - kick ass. See glimpses of that fight scene taken from the trailer below:

Photo Credits: YRF

It is an impressive fight sequence, where the camerawork and the editing make the whole thing feel like a single take. It starts with bad guys getting ambushed by Tiger's character who breaks in through the window and ends with him beating the last guy in the pool, while getting a call. There are a couple of jerks that take away the magnificence of the way the scene is shot, but the overall effort is impressive enough. War: 5 Big Twists in Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff’s Action Thriller That Made Our Jaws Drop (SPOILER ALERT).

Sanjay Dutt's Hallway Fight Scene in Zinda

Zinda, Sanjay Gupta's remake of the Korean cult thriller Oldboy was quite a diluted take on the film, that skipped the more controversial themes of the film... read, incest. But it retained some of the more popular beats from the film. Like the hallway scene fight scene below:

It is nearly the frame by frame take from Oldboy, with lesser intensity if you see it now. But Sanjay Gupta has to be appreciated for not making the scene lose its grittiness and realism. Also, for Sanjay Dutt for looking every bit convincing here as a tired man trying to make his way out alive by stabbing and hammering the goons.

Another scene that comes to our mind is the below...

 

Sidharth Malhotra's Shipyard Fight Sequence in Ek Villain

Anguished by the cold-blooded murder of his wife (played by Shraddha Kapoor), the hero Guru, played by Sidharth Malhotra, goes to confront his former boss Caeser (Remo D'Souza) thinking he is behind the killing.

When he arrives at Caeser's hideout which happens to be a launchboat, the latter's men attack him. This leads to a fight scene, where Guru single-handedly tackles each one of them, with the song, "Zaroorat" being played in the background. While the idea of shooting the scene in a single take is laudable, the action bits don't feel convincing enough, taking away the impact of the scene.

Talking more on this, there is also a nearly 12-minute chase sequence in Ajay Devgn's directorial, Shivaay. Anurag Kashyap's masterpiece Gangs of Wasseypur has a couple of long-take sequences. Recently, in Netflix's web-series, Bard of Blood, there is a memorable single-take sequence, when Kabir (Emraan Hashmi) and his friend try to tackle Talibans who are holed up in their hideout, leading to an explosion that seemingly kills the friend. Also, Amazon Prime's The Family Man has three excellently done long-take action sequences that enhance the grittiness of the web-series.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 04, 2019 06:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).