26 years of Baadshah EXCLUSIVE: “Shah Rukh Khan did a somersault over Amrish Puri without telling him,” recalls action director Moses Fernandes; also reveals how the film unintentionally ended Puneet Issar’s TV show Hindustani

Abbas-Mustan’s Shah Rukh Khan starrer Baadshah completes 26 years today. The action-comedy continues to entertain even after over a quarter century. The movie was known for some memorable stunts performed by Khan. It was the film’s action director Moses Fernandes who made them look more exciting. In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Hungama, he went down memory lane and recalled some interesting and funny moments from the shoot of Baadshah.

Shah Rukh Khan’s daring slide stunt from 80 meters high

The ending portions of Baadshah saw SRK carry out a scene where he is hanged at 80 meters, from where he jumps on a large cloth and slides down. “It was a very risky shot,” recalled Fernandes. “If the cloth turned, anything could have happened. I did a few rehearsals. We wanted to make sure that the cloth shouldn’t come off. That was the biggest challenge. But it all happened well.”

Fernandes said that Khan was sure that nothing untoward would happen as he had worked with the actor before in Deewana and Josh. Yet he had a few questions. “He asked me, ‘Masterji, yeh parda ghoomega?’ I assured him, ‘Nahin ghoomega’. He asked if I am sure. I said yes I am sure. I made my boys do that stunt a few times. So, Shah Rukh bhai felt this is safe. But as I am a fight master, I need to make sure that the actor shouldn’t get hurt in any way.”

Amrish Puri was kept in the dark about a stunt scene involving him

There was a scene in the film where SRK snatches the gun from Amrish Puri’s hand and does a somersault over him. Speaking about the scene, Fernandes said, “Before the shot, Amrish Puri asked me, ‘Masterji, how will he (SRK) jump? My hand might break’. But Shah Rukh bhai told me, ‘Masterji, don’t tell him anything and just take the shot (laughs). Otherwise, the shot won’t happen. Don’t tell Amrish Puri ji what I am going to do.’ So, Amrish Puri didn’t know what Shah Rukh was going to do. He just did the somersault and we took the shot. It turned out to be very well. It was a bit risky.”

One stunt featuring SRK involved more than 30 retakes

Fernandes also recalled a scene where Sharat Saxena and Khan come face-to-face and the latter had to do a stunt. It took over 30 retakes. “Shah Rukh bhai had to jump and take out the gun attached on his leg while being in the air,” recalled Fernandes. “We hadn’t put cables. Shah Rukh bhai said that he will do it himself. That shot must have had at least 32 retakes. I suggested we can shoot it in a different way. But Shah Rukh bhai said that he will do it himself. That guy is so hardworking that I can’t tell you. He did it, although it took 2-3 hours. He was like, ‘Main kar ke rahoonga’.”

SRK almost climbed a building horizontally

Another famous scene from the film is the one where SRK, with the use of special shoes whose soles stick to anything, climbs a building horizontally. “Shah Rukh bhai said he would like to do it himself. He said, ‘Mujhe directly building pe chadhao’. I had all the system with me. I was ready to do it. But then the directors said let it be, we will do it with CGI. But at that time the CGI wasn’t so advanced. We could make out that it’s not real,” said Fernandes.

The action director is all praise for SRK’s energy level. “I haven’t seen a hero like him,” he said. “He has the same level of energy at night, like he has in the morning. During a shot where an actor is speaking to Shah Rukh (who is standing on the opposite side), we used to make someone else stand in place of him. But Shah Rukh used to insist that he will only do. He said the other person will give a better reaction if he is standing in front of him. Some other actor might say, let the assistant give that shot.”

Shoot of Baadshah unintentionally ended the run of Puneet Issar’s TV show Hindustani

At one point of time, Moses Fernandes was doing Puneet Issar’s television show Hindustani. He was reluctant to join initially. “I told Puneet Issar that I don’t want to be a fight master in a TV serial, else I will be stuck there only. But I did that show for four and a half years; 20-25 days a month. But then I realized I came here to do something but I am doing something else altogether,” said Fernandes.

After working on the show for a long time, he got a call for Baadshah from Venus Films. “I told Ratan Jain (of Venus) that I am currently involved in a TV serial,” said Fernandes. “He suggested that I speak to them. I told Puneet Issar that I have got a call from Venus. He straightaway asked, ‘For Baadshah?’. He already knew (laughs). I said yes but my dates are with him. But he said, ‘Maa ki aankh! Tu kar le’. He told me that I should do it as this is what I always wanted to do.”

He continued, “I asked Puneet how will he continue the serial without me. He said he will see. But he stopped the serial right then. I asked him why he did that. He said they are unable to do various kinds of fights like martial arts, taekwondo, samurai fights, etc, without me.”

Bond with Abbas-Mustan

Apart from Baadshah, Fernandes has worked with Abbas-Mustan in quite a few films like Soldier, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Humraaz, etc. When asked about his relation with the director duo, he said, “They love me lot. They used to involve me in various matters, be it story or songs. Many a times they used to take my opinion on a song. I used to give my opinion as an audience. We have family relations. I am there in all their parties. They also attended by son’s wedding.”

Also Read: Shah Rukh Khan turns Zero’s failure into laughter at The Ba***ds of Bollywood preview launch; says, “Gadha bana lena, mamu bana lena lekin bhagwan ke liye meri tarah Zero mat banana”

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