Rana forced to shoot in Thailand with elephants

Although everyone knows that hotshot Rana is doing a big-ticket film with elephants titled 'Hathi Meri Sathi', only a few know that he was shooting in Thailand instead of Assam due to several restrictions.

Actually, Rana and his filmmakers shot some crucial scenes with elephants for this Hindi-Telugu-Tamil film in Thailand. Earlier, director Prabhu Solomon wanted to shoot some scenes of the film in Assam, but due to lot of restrictions imposed by the Animal Welfare Board of India, they were forced to shoot in Thailand where there are no such restrictions. “A filmmaker using an animal has to get pre-shoot permission from the Animal Welfare Board of India(AWBI).

A team of officials will come to the sets to ensure that animals are not ill-treated. Besides, a veterinary doctor will carry out a complete health check-up on the animal before and after the shoot to ensure that the animal is not hurt or injured while shooting and only then will allow further shooting. Also, a veterinary doctor will be called on the sets,” adds the source fromChennai.

Elaborating further he adds, "Once the shooting is completed, we have to submit CDs with clips to get clearance from the AWBI , since the censor certificate will be issued to a film only after the Board gives its green signal. It is a tedious and strenuous process and instead, we can go for a shooting in a different place. So, Rana and others shot in filmmaker-friendly Thailand,” the source concludes.