One for the road

The image of a black leather-clad hunk sitting astride a roaring mean machine is sure to give many an adrenaline rush…but it’s not something that comes that easy. Yet,Tinseltown actors seem to have perfected that art onscreen and off-screen. Take the case of John Abraham,a die-hard biker. Before the actor earned his big break in Bollywood,he used to live sparingly so that he could save up for his dream motorcycle. Today the actor has four super bikes including a Yamaha YZF-R1,Suzuki GSX-1300R Hayabusa and a rip-off of the American Board Track Racer (1910). John’s passion for motorcycles was seen onscreen in Dhoom too. In the heist film,the actor wooed his female fans as the charismatic bad boy zooming past on his Yamaha bike. In 1983,Jackie Shroff was one of the first Bollywood actors to hit the road on his silver ’60s India Chief in Hero. The actor presently is the proud owner of Skeletor Chopper — the bike that Nicholas Cage rode in Ghost Rider — with a silver ribcage for fuel tank. Macho man Salman Khan too is crazy about bikes and goes riding his motorcycle around Bandra,with his bodyguard Shera trailing him. In Anees Bazmee’s forthcoming film,Ready,the beefy actor’s fans will get an adrenaline rush after seeing their favourite star attempting some serious action stunts on a bike that could even give the cast of Fast And Furious a run for their money.

Actors revving up their engines to the latest mean machines on the big screen have not only been lapped up by viewers but also helped stars get a new-found love for the motorbike in real life. While avid bikers Shahid Kapoor,Arjun Rampal,Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt were more than happy to take a spin on the heavy metal onscreen,Farhan Akhtar learnt to ride a motorcycle for a song sequence in Karthik Calling Karthik. And Vivek Oberoi and Neil Nitin Mukesh,who have always been fond of biking,got a chance to brush up their skills in Prince and Lafangey Parindey respectively.

Bikes are not just restricted to the male domain. Case in point being Gul Panag,a former Miss India and a criticaly-accalimed actor who is also a die-hard biker. The fiesty Punjabi kudi has gone to the Greater Himalayas on her Enfield. Her passion was visible on the silver-screen too as she hit the open road on a bike with Purab Kohli riding on the pillion in Turning 30!!!. Kareena Kapoor rode a bike in Golmaal Returns too,albeit only for a minute in the title track sequence. But the fact remains that irrespective of their on-screen roles or their off-screen obsession,we can never have enough of our favourite stars looking uber sexy on their mean machines!