Stuntmen face foreign attack

The movie buffs in choc-a-bloc theatres couldn't help, but gaping in wonder as Hrithik Roshan perfected a flurry of superhuman gravity defying stunts across the skyline in Krrish. And how about the King Khan jumping from a lofty height of 15,000 feet in Malaysia during the shoots of Farhan Akhtar's Don.Now don't scratch your head to think that these air-cutting edge-of-the-seat sequences are but the creative fruits of animators and special effects designers. And if you do, then please put a pause. For, all these noted instances are in fact the real feat of our desi celluloid heroes who rightfully deserve the paeans for such plausible performances on screen.

Obviously a part of the kudos goes to the roping in of foreign fight masters from either California or Singapore to give Hindi cinema a global appeal, but beyond the borders of this joint team effort lies the truth of technological flourish. And that's the valid reason why today's topline actors can do away with a dummy or a duplicate which was unimaginable a few years back. Citing the efficacy of modern-day safety equipment, action director Moses adds, "The erstwhile manual stunts have been replaced by a slew of precautionary measures that allow the much-needed protection to the stars. Airbags, cable wires, harness belts are some of the shielding covers for the stunt players in the game

Rubbishing the decline in business due to infiltration of the Westerners, Rashid Mehta, president, Movie Stuntsmen's Association, says, "We work as co-ordinators with the USA and UK- based stunt artistes to bridge the gap. So there's a win-win situation on both sides and none of us can eat into each other's market share."