Akshay Kumar took everyone by surprise when he jumped out of his car and sprinted through London when he found himself stuck in a traffic jam.
The actor was there for the shooting for Sajid Nadiadwala's House Full. One day, after pack-up from East London, the crew and Akki - with his trainer Jennifer - were travelling back to his apartment in Central London. They were about eight miles away and stuck in traffic, when she challenged him to beat traffic and reach before the unit; Akshay did just that.
Akshay admits, "Yes, Jennifer challenged me to run the rest of the way home and see if we could beat the car! Then my driver laid a bet saying that they would reach the hotel before them, so the bet was on.
She and I started running at 10.30 at night and passed all the other cars with my co-stars (Riteish Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal
and Lara Dutta), the producer (Sajid Nadiadwala) and director (Sajid Khan) sitting in them." Since there are several Hindi movie buffs in London - Indians, Arabs and Asians - and he was soon recognised and had people running after him. He laughs, "Guys were running after me trying to figure out if it was really me.
I heard them shout out aloud, 'Is he Akshay Kumar?' By the time I reached my hotel it was almost like half an Indian army was running behind me. I was excited, thrilled and exhausted too by the time I reached the hotel!"
Akshay cycled many times while in London. "I bought a couple of mountain bikes and cycled back from the set to my hotel through the middle of London. While some people stopped to take pictures. I would cycle through Hyde Park everyday.
It was great fun! I felt great, with my lungs burning and legs pumping but I'm not alone - there are hundreds of people trying to become fit. If you want to be fit, I recommend buying a bicycle, riding around, forgetting about your stresses and just breathing in the air that surrounds you."