To the manner born, for anyone has its own set of advantages. And courtesy his royal upbringing, Saif Ali Khan had absolutely no qualms in shooting for a fencing sequence in his upcoming thriller, after brushing up his sword-fighting skills for only three days.
Our sources say that the Nawab of Pataudi was required to shoot for a scene opposite co-star Jacqueline Fernandez, which involved a duelling sequence. While Jackie took almost two months to get a hang of the sport, Saif needed only a few days to brush up his skills, acquired during childhood.
Director duo Abbas and Mustan tell us, `We had a fencing action sequence in our film which took us a week to shoot. Jacqueline had no clue about fencing at all, so our action director Peter Heins got trainers flown down to India and coached her for over two months on its various techniques. However, with Saif's family background, he was already a pro at the game. He just needed to spruce up his skills.`
While Heins insisted on not using body doubles for the sequence, Jackie was glad her yoga background helped her learn the ropes. She says, `I was training extensively in action stunts and my cross fit and yoga background helped me immensely.` Incidentally, Saif had shot for a similar scene opposite Aamir Khan in Yash Chopra's Parampara, way back in the 1990s.