Newsarchive June 2008

Khiladi’s Shark Tales

However, a recent underwater stunt almost cost him his life, when the actor accidentally injured himself at a depth of about 75 ft. He was shooting in the Bahamas for "Blue" — an action adventure set underwater that also stars Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta — near a real shipwreck that involved him indulging in underwater action with almost 35 sharks around. Says a unit hand, "Akshay is a certified deep sea-diver. But the stunt went wrong when Akshay hit his head against the shipwreck and started bleeding. We were worried about him fainting and needing immediate medical attention because the metal was rusted, but our main concern were the sharks, since they get attracted to the smell of blood."

It was difficult to get Akshay out of the water immediately, so the crew just left everything and rushed to Akshay to cover his wound where the blood was oozing out. Though the shark trainers tried to cage the sharks and take them in the opposite direction, there was always the danger of the blood attracting other sharks in the deep sea. "So, our main aim was to keep his wound covered and we later pulled him to safety surrounded by the crew members.
Akshay being the daredevil that he is, tried to brush it off as a minor mishap, but the entire unit was left shaken considering it was a very close call. In fact, he even joked about it to all of us, to break the seriousness on the sets," the source added.

Attire that only Akshay can carry off

Akshay Kumar will appear in the awaited, celebrity packed realty show Fear Factor-IDEA Khatron Ke Khiladi sporting a new look that complement the nature of the show as well as will be suave, macho, sporty and rugged at the same time.

The costumes are all designed by a London based designer and include hooded jackets, contemporary scarves and ankle boots. Akshay can be called as the most physically flexible leading man of Bollywood today and his lean and athletic looks can carry off any kind of costumes with style.

In the new exclusive designs of the reality show to be shot entirely in SouthAfrica, Khiladi is looking far better than in any of his films. The different costumes were designed considering Akshay's bold personality and his role as the anchor of the challenging reality show.

Commenting on his latest look, Akshay Kumar said, "I wanted to show all my colours through my new personal style. I do not want to look like someone else to be cool. What you see is what I am, from laughs to tears, to dangerous stuff, ladies and cheetah… it is just me, myself and all my scarves".

The salt and pepper stubble, military crew cut and the aviator glasses have made him look tougher than anytime before. The hot ladies who will be competing with each other in the reality show produced by Endemol India are Yaana Gupta, Aditi Govtrikar, Pooja Bedi, Sonali Kulkarni, Anita Hasnandani, Megna Naidu, Tapur Chatterjee, Tupur Chatterjee, Nethra Raghuraman, Anjana Sukhani, Dipannita Sharma, Vidya Malvade and Urvashi Sharma.

‘Doggone’ it!: Akshay

And this time it’s not with the martial arts at which he’s an expert, but rather with the kind of company he’s keeping.

Has Snoop seen any of Akshay’s moves? "Yes, he has seen videos of Akshay’s dances and is very excited,” stated Shah. Meanwhile, Akshay is chuffed at the project himself. "The song has really turned out very well and I like it very much. It will be fun to shoot the video with a rapper of Snoop Dogg’s calibre. I have seen his videos and he is very impressive," said Akshay.

Snoop was unavailable for comment, but a spokesperson for the superstar said, "Our entire team is is thrilled about the video as it will be something new for all of us. It will have Bollywood elements and we have seen a lot of Akshay Kumar’s songs to prepare for it."

Denise Richards to woo Akshay in "Kambakkth Ishq"

"Last week, they roped in Sylvester Stallone for "Kambakkth Ishq". He has signed actress Denise Richards to play a cameo opposite Akshay Kumar." Akshay Kumar plays a stunt guy in the film. Revealing details about Richards' screen appearance in KI, the source adds, "It will be a 10-day special appearance where Denise will appear at the climax and also play Akshay's love interest apart from Kareena.

Akshay is the green ambassador of Bollywood

The B-Town star has been chosen as the brand ambassador of the Green Global Foundation started by the International Indian Film Academy to highlight the issue of global warming through the events that the organization hosts and through other possible means.

The using of the green carpet during this year's stars reception at the IIFA weekend in Bangkok was a way of showing Bollywood's concern over the issue of the rapid climate change that has become a world wide phenomenon. The foundation has got a reliable and perfect partner for the cause it is fighting for in the United Nations Environmental Programe and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) headed by the Nobel laureate R.K. Pachauri.

Akshay Kumar with his wide appeal can do much more to increase the awareness on protecting the nature.

Rambo coming to Bollywood

Sajid Nadiadwala has done what no Bollywood producer could manage so far. The filmmaker has signed Hollywood superstar Sylvester Stallone for his next film "Kambakkth Ishq".

Set against a Hollywood background, "Kambakkth Ishq" has Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in the lead. In the film, Akshay Kumar plays a stuntman to Hollywood heroes. So, Nadiadwala wanted some big Hollywood stars to give that authentic touch to the film — to be directed by Sabir Khan.

"We are planning to rope in three or four more Hollywood stars. We will divulge their names only when they agree to do the film. As of now, for us it can’t get bigger than Stallone. We are high on emotions," he said. Nadiadwala says Sylvester has two scenes in the film, which will be entirely shot in Hollywood.

Refusing to divulge the sum Stallone would be paid, Nadiadwala said "the film is budgeted at $20 million (Rs80 crore)". Nadiadwala describes "Kambakkth Ishq" as a typical Bollywood romantic comedy against a Hollywood backdrop. "The film will have all the Bollywood flavour. Only the canvas will be bigger," he says.

The stunt coordinator of "Kambakkth Ishq" is also a well-known Hollywood name, Spiro Razos, who has worked for films like Vantage Point.

Singh is King is about positive attitude

Addressing a press conference here, Akshay who specially flew down from South Africa to re-shoot certain portions of the film scheduled for August 8 release, said his character's look in the film has been changed.

The actor said "I am a Punjabi Hindu and I may not know all customs, traditions and rituals associated with my religion and community. Here, we were making a film on another community. Hence, the producer Vipul Shah and director Anees Bazmi decided to show the film to the community members before release. They suggested some changes and we have incorporated them."

"We told them that the entire film cannot be re-shot but we promised to show the film to the community members before its release and according to their advice the changes were incorporated,"he added.

Fear Factor

The actor, while shooting for one of the episodes for the show recently, jumped off the tallest building in Thailand.

The promotional film for Fear Factor is shot in Bangkok, with Akshay Kumar being on a skate board, straddled between two of the tallest buildings in Thailand.

The show, which is to go on air in August, will mark Akshay Kumar’s major debut on small screen.

Akshay in sync with the Bachchans!

"I have done 250-300 stage shows till now but being a part of the Bachchan world tour is a completely different experience. Usually I take about 3 weeks to rehearse for my performance but this time around I have started my rehearsals 1 ½ months in advance", said Akshay from Bangkok. He further added, "I'll be flying to USA directly from Bangkok and won't come back to Mumbai any time soon. I'll perform in the world tour at Toronto. I'll be performing on my past hits like 'Bhool Bhulaiyya' etc."

Akki knows what it takes to woo his fans and with his innovative stage appearance, we are sure he will floor the ladies internationally too!

The "Kinng" of IIFA!

The 'Kinng' Akshay Kumar, stole the thunder during the grand finale of the recently concluded Bollywood awards held in Thailand last weekend.

Among others, he danced to both the title tracks from the film, leaving the Thais absolutely bedazzled!

Singh Is Kinng releases worldwide on August 8 and previews in select locations on August 7. It is an Indian Films - Studio 18 release.

Akki to play stuntman in "Kambakkht Ishq"

Spiro has displayed his action skills in blockbusters like "Vantage Point", "Bad Boys 2" and "21 Grams". He is also the man behind the pulsating stunts in two of the Star Trek series.

"They are both completely wedded to their work. Though my film is about a stuntman, there are only four major stunts in the plot. And one of them is the climactic chase sequence on the highways of LA (Los Angeles)," says Nadiadwala. Explaining Spiro's stunts, he said, "He had these little cars, like those model cars from our school days, which he demonstrated in my office to show how the action scenes will look on screen.

However, Nadiadwala was unnerved when he heard about the massive fire that broke out at Universal Studios in Los Angeles last week. If it would have been uncontrollable, the fire might have spread to those areas of the studio where the shooting of the film was scheduled to start mid-June. "Fortunately, the fire did not spread to the floors where we shoot," Nadiadwala said. "The fire has been devastating. They've lost a lot of films in their archives including the original print of Ben Hur. But the area where we're supposed to shoot remains unaffected. So for now we're proceeding on schedule. Let's see."

The tentative schedule takes the team to Hollywood for 50 days followed by 20 days in Italy.

"Singh is Kinng" enjoys 2 month promotion

This must be apt for "Singh is Kinng" which is fast turning out to be THE big film arriving at the beginning of the second half of the year. With the film being sold for unheard of prices all over and an unanticipated frenzy in the international territories that have been hitherto unexplored, "Singh is Kinng" has a lot riding on it.

Confirms a source associated with the film, "We can't even think of going with anything less than a 2 month promotional campaign here. Ours is indeed a big film and it is but obvious that the awareness suits the kind of stature "Singh is Kinng" carries. We have an entire planning in place where we would be unleashing a new song on the music channels on a regular basis."

Produced by Vipul Shah and directed by Anees Bazmee, "Singh is Kinng" is touted to be Akshay Kumar's biggest film till date. With music by Pritam, "Singh is Kinng" is a multi starrer which also includes Neha Dhupia, Ranvir Shorey, Javed Jaffrey, Sonu Sood, Om Puri, Sudhanshu Pandey and Kirron Kher in its cast.

Akshay strikes a double deal

The source also added that well-known set designer Nitin Desai has been approached to create the Bombay of the 1950s in his studios in Karjat over six acres of land. The set will replicate the elements of the city then— from trams to buildings to roads and cars. Nitin is also in charge of creating a time machine, which will be used by Akshay to travel through time.

In his career spanning 15 years, Akshay has acted in about 85 films and is considered as a safe box-office bet. Last year, he enjoyed four hits — "Welcome", "Bhool Bhulaiyaa", "Heyy Babyy" and "Namastey London".

While Vipul Shah did admit planning a film with Akshay, he did not give the details.

Akki starts shooting for Fear Factor

We spoke to our source from the show for the latest. "Akshay Kumar had shot for five episodes till Saturday. He will be shooting for more episodes as his stay is up to the last week of June. He is enjoying it as he recalls his days when he used to do daredevil stunts in his films. Akshay will be now doing rehearsals for his act at IIFA, Bangkok. He will be rehearsing from 5th to 8th and after that he will re-join the Khatron Ke…shoot."

Pooja Bedi, Anjana Sukhani, Meghna Naidu, Aditi Govitrikar, Tapur Chatterjee, and Sonali Kulkarni are among the participants. The show will go on air in mid August. Mukul Dev anchored the first season which had television actors as participants.

Magnificent: The one word that describes the promo of "Singh Is Kinng"

Incidentally, Studio 18, who hold the global rights of "Singh is Kinng", has decided to give it a 9-week promotion, instead of the 4/5-week promotion that has become the norm these days.

The first of the European markets to witness closure on the film is Poland. Remarks Tanuj Garg of Studio 18, "We have pre-sold all rights of "Singh is Kinng" and "Kidnap" to Poland. However, we are looking at a slightly deferred release here. At present, we are evaluating offers from six other European countries for a day-and-date, but are in no hurry to close."

In U.K., "Singh is Kinng" is likely to have the widest ever release for a solo Akshay Kumar title. "We never go over-the-top with prints, but given the stature of the film and Akshay's market standing, we are definitely looking at an aggressive release," he adds, "With Welcome, we gave Akshay his career's biggest Overseas hit and hopefully, with Singh is Kinng, we will beat that record!"