Out of the Blue

This group must dodge several reef sharks and other sea creatures to achieve their objective. But even Khan,a proficient swimmer and a trained scuba diver (he learnt scuba diving at 14 while on family vacations in Mauritius),could not help being apprehensive,while shooting underwater for over an hour with seven-foot reef sharks swimming around him. “It is one thing to go scuba diving in placid waters,but it is totally something else to be faced with 40 reef sharks swimming towards you with their jaws open. It can be very intimidating,” he shudders .

“I would listen to Eminem tracks through my underwater head apparatus to calm my nerves. And by the end of the 30-day underwater shoot I became so used to the sharks that they reminded me of my pet dogs,” he laughs.

Though there were no life-threatening encounters,thanks to his steel plated yellow body suit,Khan almost lost consciousness in one of the underwater sequences. “We were shooting at a depth of 50 ft and I developed a sharp pain in my ear. Everything seemed hazy and I was close to passing out when my safety divers rescued me. It was a scary feeling,” he recalls.

Shot across reef locations in Thailand and the Bahamas ,the film sees Khan playing close confidante of Sanjay Dutt who helps him in recovering the treasure.

“Sanju sir is as good under water as he is on land,” he laughs,talking of the camaraderie he shares with Dutt,with whom this is his fourth film. “He is like a brother to me. When I would get flustered while shooting,he would help me out with friendly advice.”

But will a huge star-cast and the technical expertise from Hollywood make Bollywood’s most expensive film a hit? “I don’t think of the economics of a film when I sign a project. Blue is the kind of film you’d want to watch at least once,” he defends.

However,Khan is aware that the success of the film is pivotal to his career. “This film will make it for me if it works. With this I want to break away from action cinema for now and focus on romantic comedies. That is where my comfort zone lies,” he signs off.