The ACTION heroes
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An hour-long documentary on Bollywood stuntmen would be on National Geographic this August.
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ALL FOR YOUR THRILL: A stunt done for the film "Blackmail"
If you happen to have seen the recently-released Amitabh-Akshay starrer "Waqt", you would well remember how a cash-starved Akshay agrees to do a daring stunt for a film.
Fierce Dobermans chase him for his flesh and he has to survive them. He manages, quite on the borderline, returning home with a few dog bites and of course, loads of hard cash.
Minus the film flab, a practicing Hindi film stuntman's life has the same risk factor as Akshay at work, but what dupes him often is the great-cash part and no richie-rich father as Amitabh in the film behind him to take care of his family.
"There are very few roles where you get a considerable amount for doing a stunt but in most cases, a stuntman gets little money. A film's production needs crores of rupees, so it is sad that they can't keep aside a little more money for its stunts as they usually are the crowd-puller scenes. The hero takes the cash and the fame for what the stuntman does," says stuntman-turned-action-director Moses. The excitement of doing a daring act pulled Moses into the profession way back in the `70s and he had his share of risk-taking-for-peanuts before becoming action director for films like "Badshah", "Chori Chori Chupke Chupke", "Ajnabee", "Humraaz", "Armaan", "Aitraz" etc.
"Only for `Humraaz', I got good money for our stuntmen," Moses mentions.
Similar tales
His contemporaries, Kaushalbhai and Habibbhai too have similar tales to tell. They differ only in the degree of risk-taking in their careers and the number and name of films done.
"My father, who was also a stuntman, died at work. But we got no money after his death. The family is always at the risk of losing you," says Habibbhai.
The Mumbai-based Stuntmen Association President, Rashid Mehta, a former stuntman in Bollywood, says, the association now provides insurance to stuntmen but that is not enough for the family. "It is a big issue but Bollywood is yet to address it," he points out.
This and many such insight would feature in an hour-long documentary that United Television (UTV) has produced for the National Geographic channel.
"Someone spotted us practicing in the morning at the Juhu beach and got in touch for the documentary. We all agreed to be featured because we felt it is high time people know the other side of the story. It all looks good when you see a man jumping from a great height but it is no camera wonder but a man who has taken the risk of his life for public entertainment, and for his family's survival," states Kaushalbhai. Relating an incident, he talks of a stunt in the film "Shaan".
"I had to jump from a great height for the film's villain. Ramesh Sippy told me take your time for the shot. We will wait. He knew how much risk it involved. I was worried because a long jump needs you to run from a distance and here, there was no room for such a thing. After a while, I did it and then the cameraman asked me to do it again because he needed another shot. I somehow made my mind to repeat it. But when he wanted it the third time, I refused. They took another person from the sets to do it but that man fell off and he had to be rushed to the hospital," he says.
Not just this one, Kaushalbhai has many more such stories to tell people. Moses, Habib and Rashid too have like yarns in their over three decades of life as stuntmen.
"We want people to hear them," Moses adds. All of them hoping, that this 60-minute air-time this August would manage to give the everyday problems of their career a forward leap. Towards public attention.
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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