Shah Rukh Khan in an exclusive still from Don |
I Khan do it!
Shah Rukh Khan executes a stunt sequence for Don, jumps from a height of 15,000 feet directed by Hollywood stuntman Joe Jennings
Kunal M Shah
Shah Rukh Khan is on a new high these days. And we're speaking literally. For the first time, we will be seeing Shah Rukh do a spectacular stunt sequence himself. The actor has actually jumped from a height of about 15,000 feet in Farhan Akhtar's Don.
"The minimum height that we needed to shoot a one-minute sequence is somewhere between 12000 feet to 15000 feet. The sequence was shot in Malaysia over a period of four days. We shot three to five jumps each day. We had flown a special team of stunt directors from California, who had earlier worked in Hollywood projects like Terminal Velocity and Air Force One, for the sequence," says Farhan.
"All these stunt directors formed a second unit for my film. It was a great experience and I think this second unit has worked wonderfully. Joe Jennings was the person who took over the role of the director for the sequence in the air and saw to it that it was safe. He is both talented and experienced. It was Joe Jennings who took special care and monitored the safety of the stunts and also the beauty," Farhan adds.
For an actor who underwent back surgery in April 2003, and still suffers from the occasional backache, performing the stunt does come as a surprise. Was Shah Rukh nervous about the sequence? Farhan replies, "See, as long as you are comfortable with the team, everything else automatically falls into place. Of course the most important issue was that of safety. We would never want to take even the slightest risk. We saw to it that Shah Rukh was safe and used the best equipment. So there was no need for him to be worried about anything."
• The most important issue was that of safety. We would never want to take even the slightest risk. We saw to it that Shah Rukh was safe and used the best equipment — Farhan Akhtar
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