Rain sequences have always been part of Bollywood films. And more often than not, filmmakers rely on rain machines to get the desired effect. But the crew of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is facing a peculiar situation on the sets of the Farhan Akhtar-starrer in Ferozepur, in Punjab. The story goes like this: the makers were supposed to shoot a significant scene, which needed to be shot in the rain.

For the shot, about 250 rain machines were hired and placed at different spots covering the filming location. As a result, almost the entire village and a lake came under the machines’ purview. But since the crop-harvesting season is on, the fields had to be protected from any irrigation. To make sure that happened, the crew made necessary arrangements to keep the crop area out of the artificial rain’s reach.

“Forty days of planning have gone into preparing the location for that two-day long rain sequence. Since we have only been shooting interior scenes with Farhan for the last few days, we have had some time to carry out a mock drill of sorts to see whether our arrangements work properly. We’ve basically covered a huge portion of the crop area to make sure nothing is damaged,” explains a unit insider.

Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra confirms the news, “My entire team is working towards making sure the sequence is shot well. It’s one of the most important scenes of the film and that’s why the preparation is needed.” The biopic stars Farhan as the legendary Indian athlete Milkha Singh. Also starring Sonam Kapoor, shooting for the project began earlier this month.