Boxing legend Mike Tyson to dance with Su

The big punch

Boxing legend Mike Tyson to dance with Sunny Deol and Shahid Kapoor in a Bollywood flick!

Ashwini Deshmukh

Firoz Nadiadwala is flying down none other than legendary boxer Mike Tyson to play a part in his forthcoming release, Fool and Final. No kidding. The notorious but celebrated boxing superstar will be cast in a music video that will be part of the feature film. So how does Tyson fit into a Firoz Nadiadwala flick? Well, the answer is simple - the film is based on boxing, with Shahid Kapoor and Sunny Deol playing the lead.

The boxer who also goes by the nickname 'The Baddest Man on The Planet' will soon be grooving with the cast of Fool and Final. He's supposed to be in Mumbai on April 20. Says a source, "Sajid Nadiadwala and Ahmed Khan are planning to bring down Mike Tyson for a music video. Everything is finalised and he has been officially signed by Nadiadwala."

And to what music will the ill-tempered boxer dance? Well, Himesh Reshamiya if you please. But Tyson will have company in Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia, Sunny Deol and Suneil Shetty, and if Tyson feels lost even after this, there is director Ahmed Khand to direct him.

The director was rather startled when contacted about his casting coup. He said, "How did you know about it? I wanted it to be a surprise element in my movie." But finally he gave in and said, "Yes. His name was suggested to me by Mushtaq, Firoz Nadiadwala's brother and I thought, why not? I have been a big fan of Mike Tyson and since my film deals with boxing, it would be great to have him in the music album."

Director's whims though can be an expensive affair, and Tyson, it is rumoured, won't gamble small to shake a leg here. "The financial aspect part was a hindrance to casting Tyson. But Firoz Nadiadwala has been very co-operative and readily agreed with the idea," said Ahmed Khan.

The director talked about his experience of getting in touch with Tyson. He said, "I spoke to him (Tyson) and he did show interest. In fact, he was surprised at the offer since it seemed like an unlikely thing for him to come down to India and act in a video. In fact, he hasn't even travelled to Asia before."

The film, on its part, though has travelled half the globe and has been shot in locales such as Dubai, Brazil and India. Besides this, the film has also been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Its sets caught fire and the director was arrested in Dubai for shooting on a bridge without taking permission from the necessary authorities. Good luck with Tyson, guys. A word of advice, please don't mess with him.


That's Mike for you

Despite a career steeped in controversy, Mike Tyson alias Malik Abdul Aziz is a 20th Century Sports icon. His meteoric rise from a poverty-stricken background in Brooklyn to superstardom in the world of heavyweight boxing made him a household name in the 1980s. The 1990s were a difficult decade for the champion, who went to jail for extended periods due to rape convictions and physical assault among other offences. Mike Tyson goes by many monikers, such as "Iron Mike Tyson", "Mighty Mike Tyson", "Kid Dynamite", and "The Baddest Man on the Planet". Despite his brutal physical power, Tyson has a very high-pitched bordering on effeminate voice and his speech is marked by a pronounced lisp - something that earned him serious derision and abuse from his peers in his formative years.

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