One has seen many actors from the 80s and 90s talk about the times when there were no vanity vans and actresses faced trouble for changing their costumes or even going to the washroom. Cut to present when actors enjoy the luxury of having their personal vans and big entourages. During earlier times, actors often had to manage with minimal facilities during outdoor shoots. Actor Daisy Shah recently looked back at those days and shared how even leading stars had to make do without private spaces while filming abroad.Daisy recalled working as a background dancer on ‘Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein’, which marked R Madhavan and Dia Mirza’s Bollywood debut. Daisy remembered a schedule in South Africa where the cast and crew had no vanity vans at all.“I remember, Dia once had to change her costume during a song so she had to go to a mall to change her outfit. We didn’t have vanity vans. Even the main actors didn’t have them, let alone the dancers, and even the celebrities didn’t have vans at that point. They would look for nearby malls and change there. Or we would be sitting in a restaurant and they would be doing their makeup there, and we would be doing it there too. That’s how things worked then,” Daisy said in an interview with Bollywood Bubble. She also spoke about the harsh weather conditions during the shoot. Since the team was filming in freezing temperatures, dancers would gather near the lights between takes just to stay warm. Daisy appreciated that the production team eventually stepped in to help.“When we would be asked to go for the shot, we would be freezing. But the good part was that the makers did not ignore us. The next day, they got body suits to wear under our costumes so we don’t feel cold,” she shared.In an earlier conversation with BBC Hindi, Dia Mirza had also reflected on the lack of basic facilities available on film sets during that period. “When we would go to locations to shoot songs, a basic thing like a toilet wouldn’t be available. We would have to go behind trees, behind rocks, and three people would shield you with large sheets. We wouldn’t have space to change clothes. Basically, we lacked access to privacy, access to basic hygiene.”Released in 2001, Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein was directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and served as the Hindi remake of his Tamil film Minnale. The film also featured Saif Ali Khan and Anupam Kher in important roles.
