Esha
Deol,
in
her
own
words,
is
bruised
black
and
blue.
This
month
after
participating
in
a
camel
race
in
Jaisalmer
and
doing
road
stunts
in
Goa
for
her
mother"s
production
Tell
Me
Oh
Khuda,
Esha
can
barely
move
a
limb.
“The
director
Mayur
Puri
and
the
fight
master
Parvez
Bhai
forgot
I
was
all
said
and
done,
a
girl
and
therefore
delicate
in
my
own
way.
This
has
been
the
most
physically
demanding
experience
of
my
life," says
Esha
wincing
in
pain.
Twenty-six
years
after
Hema
Malini
got
on
a
camel
in
the
Rajasthan
deserts
to
sing
the
haunting
'Ae
dil-e-nadaan" in
Kamal
Amrohi"s
Razia
Sultan,
Esha
rode
the
camel
like
a
pro
in
Jaisalmer.
Protests
Esha,
“In
Razia
Sultan
Mom
was
singing
on
the
camel.
I
was
wincing
in
pain.
For
ten
days
I
rode
the
camel
like
a
professional
for
a
camel
race
along
with
Arjan
Bajwa,
Chandan
Roy
Sanyal
and
Sudhanshu
Pandey.
I
was
the
only
girl
in
the
team.
But
people
seemed
to
forget
that.
But
if
I
may
say
so,
I
had
the
best
calves
on
display
in
the
typical
Rajasthani
camel-rider"s
costume,
the
kurta
lungi
and
all."
For
the
first
few
days
Esha
was
in
a
daze.
“The
seat
on
top
of
the
camel
is
so
rough
and
so
unfriendly
to
comfortable
riding,
my
knees
and
inner
thighs
were
constantly
bruised.
When
my
mother
saw
I
was
hurt
she
was
livid.
But
I
told
her
to
chill.
And
we
continued
shooting
on
the
camels
for
a
good
week
after
that.
Now
I
can
call
myself
an
expert
camel
rider."
Esha"s
training
in
kick-boxing
held
her
in
good
stead.
“For
the
last
two
years
I"ve
subconsciously
been
training
for
this
film.
I
needed
to
get
physically
fit.
Which
I"ve
done.
And
I
needed
to
mature
emotionally.
That
too,
I
think,
I"ve
achieved."
Esha
says
shooting
Tell
Me
Oh
Khuda
has
been
like
shooting
three
different
films.
“We
shoot
in
three
different
continents
with
three
different
cinematographers.
So
it"s
like
doing
three
different
films.
In
Turkey
I
shot
with
Rishi
Kapoor
ji
and
in
Jaisalmer
I"m
shooting
with
Vinod
Khanna
ji."
Now
Esha
wants
to
bring
her
father
Dharmendra
and
mom
Hema
together
for
the
last
segment
of
the
film.
“It"s
a
dream
for
me
to
have
them
in
the
same
film
as
me,
so
that
one
day
I
can
tell
my
grandchildren,
'I
made
this
happen.".
And
I
will
make
it
happen."