Saif Ali Khan took the plunge, thrice!

By: Upala KBR, Mid-Day
Thursday, November 22, 2007

Saif Ali Khan has done all the action sequences himself in Abbas-Mustaan"s thriller Race. One of the most daring stunt scenes was when Saif jumped off a 22-storey high-rise in Durban not once but thrice!

Good fun

Talking about the stunts, Saif Ali Khan who is currently shooting in Bangkok for a Yash Raj film says, “Yes, I did the stunts in Race myself.

Things are pretty safe nowadays but a cable can always snap, so jumping off serious heights is a bit worrying but that"s the challenge and fun, I suppose.

It"s not the first time I am attempting a stunt myself. I have done stunts before on my own but this is the first time I did it with cables and slightly high-tech stuff so it was good fun."

Wasn"t he ever scared at doing such a stunt for the first time? “I think I was scared a little every time but that was the challenge," says the brave Leo.

Big jump

Producer Ramesh Taurani from Tips says, “When Saif insisted on doing all the stunts himself initially, I was quite scared. So I was present on the sets during the shooting whenever he would shoot stunts so that no mishap occurred.

I personally checked the cables and everything else as I was very worried. Saif had to fall from the terrace of a 22-floor building and it was a long jump. Race is an action thriller and the story of two brothers (Saif and Akshaye Khanna). Its much bigger and better than any film Tips has produced."

Saif game

Director Mustaan from duo Abbas-Mustaan adds, “Action director Allan Amin, Saif, Rameshji and we had discussed the stunt sequence in Mumbai. In the beginning, we were all a bit apprehensive, as Saif has never jumped off a high rise before.

So Saif said we will try. He was game. It"s always better to do your stunts yourself as then we can shoot some great close ups. Audiences today know when we are using a body double. Only long shots are possible with doubles. In Race, because Saif was doing the stunts himself we have some great action shots. When we reached the high-rise everyone except Saif was scared. He was brave.

Then Allan showed him how to do it using a stuntman of his. He showed Saif and us it was safe, only then were we reassured. Allan used his winching machine to control the wind so Saif wouldn"t go on the side. There were four cameras for the shot. It took a full day to shoot."

Mustaan says, “The jumping off the building was not the only stunt Saif did. After his first jump, Saif wasn"t satisfied so he did it two more times till he thought it was perfect. Saif also done an action sequence in air balloons at a height of 400 ft. He told us if he could jump off such a tall building he felt confident enough to do other stunts himself."