Interview with a bike stunt artist

Q1. Can you tell us about the stunt shows you have performed in so far? Tell us a little about your previous projects? 

We started stunt biking as a mere hobby a long time ago, primarily as members of a club called Rubber Smokin Angels (RSA). Back then, we never really imagined we would make it to the movies someday. We would often go out for stunts wherever we found free space; actually at that time there weren’t too many people doing these things, so we had to use a lot of our improvisation to being out the best in us. Later when we began to see videos online of Americans and Europeans performing such stunts, we realized that there is a lot of scope for this particular field of sport. Gradually, we managed to get a lot of recognition from both national and international bike forums.

Even today, if you see there are a lot of international bike forums consisting of Indian members, who don’t necessarily have high displacement superbikes like the Americans, but that’s something we really appreciate, because the Americans perform such stunts on a lot higher capacity bikes, whereas Indian bike enthusiasts like ourselves perform similar feats on a bikes lower in size and capacity, which technically speaking is a lot harder. 

We then started participating in stunt shows in cities like Kolhapur and Aurangabad, where the response was quite overwhelming. This motivated us to perform in more and more stunt shows, which gave us better exposure and higher recognition. Thanks to the support of Indian bike makers like Bajaj offering us the space and promotion necessary to perform in such shows, the popularity of such a cult sport in India has grown in leaps and bounds. 

Q2. What was your experience working as a stunt artist in Lafangey Parindey?

Working with a big production house was a great experience. The entire crew was very professional and their marketing team was very systematic. There was an entire road crossing cordoned off for three whole days in order to shoot the stunt scenes that you will see in the film. This was done, so viewers could have a realistic feel of what was being shot. Being a Yash Raj production, the movie production was executed on a very large scale with little compromise on the quality.  

Q3. What were the kind of stunts you were expected to perform for the movie? 

There are actually quite a lot of stunts that we did, which you may have seen before, but you will have to watch the movie to see exactly how the stunts have been presented through the production crew’s brilliant camerawork. 

Q4. How was it working with Neil Nitin Mukesh? Is it true that he performed some of the stunts himself? 

Yes, it true. We actually trained Neil Nitin to perform many of the stunts himself, so we wouldn’t have to use a double in his place, while shooting the scenes. There were some shots where the camera was very close to Neil. While shooting such stunts, the camera was mounted very close to Neil’s face, so his entire face and body was visible. So, using a double in such scenes was not really an option for us. Hence, Neil was required to sit on the bike and perform some of the stunts on his own. 

Q5. What were the bikes you guys used to perform the stunts? 

We used the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTSi for performing the stunts you will see in the movie. It was a great experience executing stunts on the 220 DTSi. Other manufacturers have great bikes too, but they are in a sense delicate in their overall build, and wouldn’t have lasted too long. But Bajaj bikes have far more robust bodies, and can easily withstand the beating such bikes are made to endure, when repeatedly performing stunts on them. 

We completed shooting all the stunt scenes on a single set of bikes, which goes a long way in establishing the fact that Bajaj bikes have a strong build-quality and are made to last. I honestly, don’t think bikes produced by any other Indian bike maker could have endured the punishment that the Bajaj 220DTSi’s went through while shooting for this movie.  

A good stunt bike is one that revs fast. So the Pulsar 220DTSi is a great bike to perform stunts as it reaches its maximum power very quickly. Considering the space constraints we had, the 220 DTSi was a good option.

Q6. What were the challenges your team faced while shooting the stunt scenes in the movie? 

Although the area allotted to us for performing the stunts was fairly large, there were cars and bikes parked at the side of the street, which were necessary for a realistic portrayal of the scene. So our team was actually performing the stunts in a very confined area, and at the same time making sure that we didn’t hit any of the cameras’ rolling around us. This left us with a very small patch of space to perform the stunts, which was big challenge.

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Q7. What do you think about stunt bikes being used in Bollywood movies today? What has the audience response been like so far?

From a level where we could probably only do one or two stunt shows a year, today it has come to a stage where you see it in every movie, every promotion, TV commercial etc. Most motorcycle endorsements nowadays have some celebrity doing some kind of trick on their vehicles. This in a sense is the extent to which stunt biking has suddenly gained huge popularity. This is the main reason why this trend is getting better and better. 

Today, even though many movies are not based on motorcycles and stunt biking, biking sequences have become an integral part of Bollywood movie scripts. This adds a sense of adventure to the movie scenes, and creates a much better impression with the audience. It creates a lot more excitement and adds effect to the overall pulse of the movie. 

Q8. What is your personal favourite bike for performing stunts in India?

Definitely Bajaj! They are rough n’ tough bikes and have great build quality. They are extremely endurable and probably the best bike for performing stunts. Bikes by other manufacturers are also powerful and can travel at great speeds, but what’s lacking is the feedback from the maker to the user. Bajaj is miles ahead of its competitors, when it comes to giving its customers valuable feedback, so they understand their bikes better.