One of Hollywood's most accomplished stunt directors Lee Whittaker is currently in Mumbai shooting the climactic action sequence for Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroop.
Whittaker is known for his astonishing aerial stunts in Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor and his stunning action in 78 other American films and television serials.
Vishwaroop (Vishwaroopam in Tamil) is Whittaker's first Indian assignment. Apparently, Whittaker initially refused to do the film. But was convinced only after Kamal Haasan showed the American stunt-wallah some of his filmed moves and daring do from his past work.
Says a source, "Whittaker was not too keen on doing an assignment outside home turf. But when he saw Kamal Haasan's stunts in some of his past film notably Nayakan and Abhay and the high risk-level that the actor was willing to take to achieve a summit of realism in the stunts, Whittaker agreed."
For the climactic one-on-one being shot currently, Kamal Haasan and Rahul Bose were required to rehearse rigorously and religiously for over a week for the aerial stunts. Says a source, "It's a high-risk low-caution stunt. No matter how careful we were, it was potentially life-threatening. Still, all precautions were taken to ensure the two actors' safety. Whittaker himself admitted the stunt he had devised for Kamal Haasan and Rahul Bose was more dangerous than anything he had done in Hollywood."
So lethal were the moves and so high the risk of a mishap that Kamal Haasan had kept the stunt a secret from his loved ones. And yet it was a pretty hit-and-miss heart-in-the-mouth touch-and-go kind of situation at the Chandivali Studio in Andheri (Mumbai) on Sunday when, during a climactic combat between hero Kamal Haasan and villain Rahul Bose, Kamal came crashing down from a height of nearly 20 feet. Luckily there was no mishap.
Whittaker who has coordinated stunts for the likes of Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Clooney is pretty impressed with the heightened level of commitment shown by Kamal Haasan and Rahul Bose while shooting what can be only be described as a suicidal stunt.
Says Kamal Haasan, "I've done a lot of risky stuff. Let's just say what I'm doing now is exceedingly risky. It's fun to have an actor as dedicated as Rahul Bose opposite me. The fight is dangerously enjoyable."
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