Bebo in tears over Shahid

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Posted: 18 years ago

Bebo in tears over Shahid
By: Vickey Lalwani
April 3, 2007

It wasn't a lovers' tiff, but a dangerous stunt sequence that had the actress sobbing with fright

It's All Good: Shahid Kapoor in Fool And Final

Kareena Kapoor relied on choreographer-turned-director Ahmed Khan for her beau Shahid Kapoor's safety, but he almost failed to live up to his promise. While shooting for Firoz Nadiadwala's Fool And Final a few days ago, Shahid survived a near fatal accident at Filmistan Studios.

Biking glory

A few days before the Filmistan incident, Shahid was shooting a stunt for the film in Dubai, where he had to pedal a BMX bike down the face of a 16-floor building over a long cloth that stretched to the ground.

Midway through the shooting, the cloth snapped from its clasps leaving Shahid in mid-air. Needless to say, Kareena was overtly worried and Ahmed promised her that Shahid was in safe hands thereafter.

When contacted, Ahmed said, "The cloth had been hung so that Shahid would not feel the great height he was coming down from. Shahid has a vertigo problem and is scared of heights – just like Aamir Khan.

When the cloth snapped, I almost fainted. There was a pulley holding Shahid from the top, and there was also a safety net below. I wondered how he would manage. Lekin ho gaya."

During the entire shot, Bebo was constantly on the phone with Ahmed. She was literally in tears. "She was very scared and Ahmed kept assuring her that nothing would happen. To compound her tension, Shahid did not speak to her until the shot was okayed," Ahmed says.

Wired up!

Later, another incident happened at Filmistan that made Ahmed's promise to Kareena almost go kaput. Ahmed explains, "It was a song sequence. There were 16 mounted pulleys and 120 men pulling up many dancers, including Shahid.

Never before in the history of Indian cinema has such a dangerous and exciting dance sequence been picturised. While shooting, the left wire of Shahid's pulley suddenly snapped. Luckily, he was not dreaming.

He is very active and agile and immediately held on to the right wire of the pulley to balance himself."Ayesha Takia was also supposed to be a part of this shot. "But we dropped her at the last minute as we thought it would be very dangerous for her.

A small lapse of concentration and I shudder to think what would have happened to Shahid. I wouldn't have been able to face Bebo. I wouldn't have been able to face my wife Shaira either, as she treats Shahid like a brother.

In fact, when Bebo was on the line with me during that stunt in Dubai, Shaira was on the other phone asking me to cancel the shot. But Shahid was extremely buoyed and wanted to do it.

Thankfully, we pulled through on both occasions," Ahmed concludes with a sigh.

Fool And Final stars Sharmila Tagore, Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, Viveik Oberoi, Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia, Sameera Reddy, Paresh Rawal, Arbaaz Khan and Chunky Pandey.

http://www.mid-day.com/hitlist/2007/april/154701.htm