Sajid Nadiadwala's son beats up Riteish Deshmukh

By: Upula KBR, Mid-Day
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Producer Sajid Nadiadwala's five-year-old son Subhaan might have acted in bit roles in Main Hoon Na (junior Zayed Khan) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, but this is the first time he gets to beat up an actor in his father's film, Heyy Babyy! "Subhaan has acted in a scene involving 100 children and plays the leader of the gang who beat up Eddy Teddy (Riteish Deshmukh). There should be some advantages to being a producer's son, no?" laughs Sajid.

Actor in waiting

Talking about why he used his son in the film, Sajid says, "Whenever there is a portion in any of my films involving a child, I would like to have Subhaan in it. A lot of people feel he's too young, but I think it's a good experience for him and he'll have many happy memories. My wife Wardha too gets happy when Subhaan acts in a film."

Subhaan's favorite star is - but naturally - Salman Khan, whom he fondly calls chachu. Does Sajid want Subhaan to be an actor when he grows up? "That's his choice, but I'd like him to complete his education first. Currently, he's in KG at Juhu's Ecole Mondiale," says Sajid.

Grand scene

Heyy Babyy director Sajid Khan adds, "This particular scene has never been seen in a Hindi film before. Action director Mahendra Verma trained 100 kids between the ages of three and 10 years for four days. We put up a set in Mumbai and trained them in gymnastics and action scenes using wires to enact fight sequences like you see in the Matrix movies. I wanted to do something grand for the kids and it's quite a funny scene. I was scared for Subhaan as he's very young, but he did it very well."

Khan adds that the character Eddy Teddy will catch on big time with the kids. "He's even got a theme song which goes, 'Shame, shame, puppy shame, Eddy Teddy is my name!' and I have sung that song. I had to change my voice to make it sound grumpy," he says laughing.

Riteish, who had to wear a 20-kg furry outfit, says, "It's cool to get beaten up by kids. What was difficult was the costume. I had to wear another costume below that outfit and use lots of padding to show a paunch and a big bum! In front of the camera it looks real funny, but inside I would be sweating like a pig!"