Insists on doing action scenes himself, rendering specially hired US stuntman useless

The makers of the under-production Amitabh Bachchan film Power had announced that the star would be doing dangerous stunts in the film.

But they had quietly ordered a body stunt of same height and 'lean'age as the Big B from the US to stand as a substitute.

But the indefatigable 68-year-old actor is doing the heart-in-the-mouth stunts himself, refusing to take the help of a body-double who has been specially flown in from Hollywood at a high cost... just in case.

The plan was to gently let the body-double step in at the last minute so that the Big B wouldn't have to face any risks at all.

How far he goes...

On the first day itself, when the Big B had to perform action scenes, he cleverly suggested that he start doing the scene... "And let's see how far I can go." Says director Raj Kumar Santoshi, "This is Amitji's way of doing things.

He keeps raising his own bar so quietly that outsiders don't even realise it. In Khakee, where he had to do some dangerous stunts, we had a body-double on stand-by who remained just that: on standby.

This time, for Power we were pretty sure Amitji would agree with us on the danger posed by the stunts. But we under-estimated his willpower."

Pausing to admire the mega-star's energy and courage, Santoshi adds, "Amitji tricked us. He continued doing the stunt and went further than he was supposed to."

More agile than ever

Santoshi refrains from divulging the exact nature of the stunt. But stresses that it is exceptionally dangerous. The director is now planning his fifth film with the Big B.

"Contrary to belief, Power is my fourth film with Amitji. I've done Family, Khakee and before that Ghatak where he had a cameo.

But I find him more agile and tireless now than before. He makes everyone on the set feel enthused."