Akshay Kumar convinced chopper pilot to help him do dangerous Sooryavanshi stunt without harness, Rohit Shetty says, ‘Jo bhadka hoon main…’

Rohit Shetty also shared how back in the day, it was more dangerous for actors to perform their own stunts, leaving them with several fractures and stitches.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | January 5, 2024 05:42 PM IST

4 min read

Rohit Shetty got angry at the pilot during Akshay Kumar's helicopter stunt. (Photo: Rohit Shetty/Instagram)

Filmmaker Rohit Shetty, known for packing his films with intriguing action sequences, recently shared how Akshay Kumar is so daring and doesn’t do anything extraordinary to stay fit and healthy. Shetty also revealed how back in the day, it was more dangerous for actors to perform their own stunts, leaving them with several fractures and stitches.

While speaking to comedians, Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiya for their podcast, Shetty shared that while today’s generation doesn’t realise the power of natural food items, Akshay Kumar maintains his physique only by eating simple food. He said, “Akshay Kumar eats normal food and does normal exercise. He doesn’t even do weights. If it’s a building with 80 floors, he will climb it, he will do 50 pull-ups, he will eat early, he is quite disciplined.”

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Citing an example of his fitness, Shetty revisited a scene from their 2021 film Sooryavanshi where Kumar was hanging on a helicopter without the support of a harness. Though Shetty had directed the pilot that he would move the helicopter up and down and wouldn’t go around, Kumar convinced the pilot to take the helicopter around.

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Shetty narrated, “We took that shot in Bangkok. He was hanging from the helicopter and I had said, ‘This is a safety shot, we won’t go ahead until I tie a harness. Just go up and come down, don’t go around.’ He talked the pilot into it and I saw that he took around the helicopter while Akshay was hanging on his hand, his entire body weight was on his hand. Main jo bhadka hun pilot par (I got so angry at the pilot) and he said, ‘Inhone bola tha’ (pointing towards Kumar).”

The filmmaker retained the shot in the final edit of his film and praised Akshay Kumar for having no air about himself. “There is no showsha, no powder,” said Shetty.

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Shetty, who has been working in the film industry for a long time, also shared how Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty, and Ajay Devgn hurt themselves badly while performing their stunts during the initial phase of their career.

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He said, “Then it was all real and all of them had broken their bones, be it Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty or Ajay Devgn. Someone had 11 fractures, someone had 8 fractures, and someone worked with stitches. Nobody was there who was not hurt. Ajay and Akshay used to jump from the 4th or 6th floor. It was all real, there was no CGI then.”

“In Phool Aur Kaante when Ajay comes on two bikes, it is real. If he hadn’t practised well, he could have fallen on his face. In Anth, Suneil kept his foot on the bike’s seat while riding it, and Akshay hung to a helicopter in Sabse Bada Khiladi,” Shetty shared. But today, things have changed. Shetty said that performing stunts is safer today with all the safety measures and advanced technology in place.

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