Akshay Kumar's latest film Sooryavanshi which released in theatres on Friday is getting rave reviews for its high-octane action stunts. Interestingly, Akshay Kumar performed a dangerous chopper stunt in the film.
Recently, as part of the movie promotion, Akshay, Katrina Kaif and director Rohit Shetty, made an appearance on Amitabh Bachchan's popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati 13.
A clip from Sooryavanshi was shown and talking about the scene, Rohit said, “If you watch the film you will realise. What we did was, we harnessed the bike because it would fall otherwise. His (Akshay Kumar’s) job was to hold the ramp of the chopper. The chopper will take off a bit and then we will cut the shot, harness him and then take the next shot.”
He added, “We were shooting in Bangkok, I have no idea when he had a word with the pilot. He left the bike, held onto the ramp and the chopper took off (with Akshay hanging right there without a harness.). He is without harness in that shot. Hum sab dekhte reh gaye kya ho raha hai (We were left wondering what was happening!).”
After hearing this, Amitabh Bachchan was quite impressed, however, he also warned Akshay against trying such stunts again.
Akshay joined in and said, "I would just say not to try. Bewakoofi thi kaafi (it was stupidity)."
Amitabh then recalled how he was supposed to perform a similar shot for his 1980 film Dostana which also starred Shatrughan Sinha.
It needs to be mentioned that Malayalam superstar Jayan, known for performing daredevil sequences without a stunt double, died while attempting a helicopter fight scene back in 1980. It was for director PN Sundaram’s multi-starrer Kolilakkam that Jayan climbed on to the landing skid of a flying helicopter. Before that, he had climbed onto the pillion of actor Sukumaran’s motorbike, standing on it and reaching for the helicopter. The helicopter had lost control and crashed to the ground. Jayan's head hit hard on the ground, leading to his death.
Talking about Sooryavanshi, the film had a decent opening at the box office. The Rohit Shetty film opened in theatres with estimated collections of Rs 26 crore on Friday.
Helmed by Rohit Shetty, Sooryavanshi stars Akshay Kumar as a cop Veer Sooryavanshi who sets out to thwart a major terrorist attack in the city of Mumbai. The film starring Katrina Kaif in the lead also has cameos by Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh.