Akshay Kumar firmly believes that actors should do their own stunts and take less help from VFX
September 9 marks the birthday of Akshay Kumar, fondly called the ‘Khiladi of Bollywood’ for being one of the few stars who believe in doing their own stunts. Kumar began his Bollywood career with ‘Aaj’ in 1987, but it was his second movie, Khiladi, that solidified his position as a young action star in the 1990s. Since then, Kumar has starred in several action movies, performing most of his own stunts rather than using a body double or visual effects.
As we celebrate Akshay Kumar’s birthday, let us recall some of his death-defying stunts that turned him into a mega action star.
Not comparing Akshay Kumar to Tom Cruise, but Kumar stood on an airborne plane long before Tom Cruise did in Mission Impossible. In 'Khiladi 420' (2000), Kumar climbed onto a running plane, stood on top of it after the plane gained significant height, and jumped from the plane onto a hot air balloon. All this was done by the star in a single attempt.
In 1998, Akshay Kumar did a movie named ‘Angaaray’ by director Mahesh Bhatt. In one of the scenes, Kumar had to jump from a seventh-floor building to a fourth-floor building. And while nothing scared him, the stunt scared Mahesh Bhatt, who left the set during that shot because he was scared to see Akshay attempt the stunt.
(Credit- Aajtak)
“There was a stunt in Angaaray where I jumped from a seven-floor building. In between, there was a road, but only one lane, and there was another building on the other side. So, I had to jump from the seventh to the fourth floor. During that, my director ran away,” as revealed by Kumar to media outlet The Quint.
(Credit- BollywoodHungama)
Kumar jumped from one plane on top of a hot air balloon, so a jump from a cliff was a piece of cake for him. In ‘8x10 Tasveer’ by Nagesh Kukunoor, the character jumped off a cliff from a height of around 160 feet and didn’t bat an eye. In an interview, Kukunoor had revealed, “The scene required Akshay to sprint from a long distance and jump into the water. Though we did some rehearsals with a duplicate, the fall was done by him in one take, and it was amazing. Though we all freaked out, Akshay was absolutely cool about it,” as quoted by MensXP.
(Credit- Ahmedabad Mirror)
In 'Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi' (1996), Akshay Kumar lifted the Undertaker (not the real one) but suffered a slipped disc. Note that in the film, a tall, muscular wrestler was cast as the Undertaker. Recalling anecdotes, Gulshan Grover, who played the antagonist, revealed that Undertaker, played by Brian Lee, was an unfriendly character but used to take care of other wrestlers on the set. Lee also had his own style of humour, as he once shook a trailer with Kumar and Grover inside it with his bare hands.
Akshay Kumar turns 58 this year, but the actor has no intention of slowing down, and we definitely wish to see more of his cool stunts.
