Rohit Shetty says Akshay insisted on a helicopter stunt with no harness during Sooryavanshi's shoot

Filmmaker Rohit Shetty shared how Akshay Kumar is a daring actor. He who is known to stay fit with his everyday routine revealed how back in the day, performing own stunts would leave them with several fractures and stitches.

Rohit Shetty shares an anecdote from Sooryavanshi's filming days

In a candid chat on Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa's podcast, Rohit Shetty hailed Akshay Kumar for maintaining his physique. He also revisited a scene from their 2021 film Sooryavanshi where the actor was hanging on a helicopter without the support of a harness. 

Rohit Shetty narrated that the scene was shot in Bangkok. He had instructed the pilot that it was just a "safety shot" and the helicopter was supposed to just go up and then come down. He had also affirmed not to go around.

"He (Akshay Kumar) talked the pilot into it and I saw that he took around the helicopter while Akshay was hanging on his hand, his entire body weight was on his hand. Main jo bhadka hun pilot par (I got so angry at the pilot) and he said, ‘Inhone bola tha’ (pointing towards Kumar),” Rohit Shetty shared.

The filmmaker retained the shot in the final edit of the film. 

Rohit Shetty recalls how actors hurt themselves while performing stunts in the 90s 

Rohit Shetty also shared how Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty, and Ajay Devgn hurt themselves badly while performing their stunts during the initial phase of their career. The director said that at that time it was real and all of them had broken their bones. "Be it Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty or Ajay Devgn. Someone had 11 fractures, someone had 8 fractures, and someone worked with stitches," he added.

He also shared that Ajay and Akshay used to jump from the 4th and 6th floor and there was no use of CGI then. He also added that in today's time performing stunts is safer and all the safety measures are taken with the advanced technology in place.