Hollywood helps SRK to defy gravity

Stunt director Joe Jennings tells us about SRK's 'daredevilry', which includes jumping from a height of 15,000 feet.

After Hrithik Roshan's gravity-defying stunts in Krrish, it is now the turn of Shah Rukh Khan to take a turn in the air. Among other action sequences, King Khan will be jumping from a height of 15,000 feet. It is the first time that SRK is doing his own stunts.

"It might take very less print space but 15,000 ft is not a small height. It can be a nightmare for a person who is scared of heights," says director Farhan Akhtar.

And to make sure that everything goes by the script, Hollywood stunt expert Joe Jennings is calling the shots. Joe has already directed stunts for movies like Charlie's Angels, XXX, Wild California, Last Holiday and Air Force One.

"I know a lot about Shah Rukh now, but before this shoot, I wouldn't have known him from my dentist. Of course, I noticed the buzz around him on the sets, and I felt star struck despite having no clue about who he was. But SRK was very professional and gracious throughout the shoot," says Joe.

And was the shooting difficult given SRK's back problem? "There were apprehensions in Farhan's mind before making SRK do the stunt because of this, but the actor was more confident than the rest of us," Joe reveals.

What difference has he seen between a Bollywood and a Hollywood film? "The budget of a Hollywood movie is much bigger but the production and coordination here are handled just as professionally. I was really impressed by the people whom I met on this project," he says.

With an experience of over 12 years in filming aerial stunts, Joe is quite impressed with Farhan Akhtar. "Farhan is a pro. He was quite relaxed throughout the shoot and didn't want to control our work. Creatively, he told us clearly what he hoped to see, and then sent us off to do our work. I had the same sort of experience with director Mic Gee on Charlie's Angels. He was clear about what he wanted, and then just sent us off to do the job," he says.

Source: The Times