What do you do if you have a song to finish off filming but you’re running late for an important meeting? You jump! Superstar Akshay Kumar found himself exactly in that situation whilst filming the song ‘Bakheda’ for his upcoming film ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’, slated to release on 11th August 2017.
Reports have emerged of the heroics displayed by the star who left the film crew awestruck on the spot. As the megastar Akshay Kumar had just 10 minutes to shoot before leaving for his meetings, the sequence involved the actor having to jump from balconies. Sensing the delay at the spot, the superstar made the impulsive decision to perform the stunt himself without a safety harness, much to the surprise of the cast and the crew. The actor not only performed the dangerous stunt in a single take, he even taunted the cast and the crew by hanging on to the balcony for more than two minutes, sending them into a fit of panic!
It was not just superstar Akshay Kumar who left the filmmakers surprised, as actress Bhumi Pednekar, who plays his leading lady in the film, took on a knitting challenge.
In the song, Bhumi who has never knit in real life, was asked to knit on camera. Before the crew could set up their equipment, Bhumi quickly reached out to the locals at the location, to learn a few tricks, appeared straight before the cameras to finish her scene in a single take!
Check out the end result! Sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan, ‘Bakehda’ has music by Vickey Prasad and
lyrics by Garima Wahal & Siddharth Singh.
TOILET: EK PREM KATHA is a satirical, quirky, humorous, light-hearted take on India’s open-air defecation issue, aiming to tug the hearts of every single lover, who is willing to go to any lengths for their beloved. It tells the real-life love story between Keshav from Nandgaon (Mathura) played by Akshay Kumar and Jaya from Barsana (Mathura) played by Bhumi Pednekar, whose love transcends across barriers of society and tradition but is challenged by the most unexpected hurdle, a toilet. Conflict comes knocking on the first day of their marital life, when Jaya leaves Keshav’s house for good, after discovering that there is no toilet. Distraught and desperate, Keshav sets out on mission to win back his love- by battling against the age old traditions, mind-set and value system of his country.
Set against the backdrop of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to improve sanitation across India, ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ (‘Clean India Movement’), TOILET: EK PREM KATHA is the latest statement of intent from Akshay Kumar in his bid to galvanise modernisation and equality in his home country. The film tackles the fundamental need to provide households across the nation with a functioning toilet to reduce open defecation in public, which is intricately linked to issues of women safety.
TOILET: EK PREM KATHA is directed by Shree Narayan Singh, best known for his work editing smash hits such as Baby (2015), M.S Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016) and Rustom (2016), and co-produced by dream team Neeraj Pandey and Akshay Kumar himself. The ensemble of cast is led by Akshay Kumar, who is joined by Bhumi Pednekar (Dum Laga Ke Haisha), Anupam Kher (Bend It Like Beckham, Silver Lining Playbook) – to condense a star-studded cast.
A revolution in the making, TOILET: EK PREM KATHA uses humour to educate the world and bring to light the issues surrounding sanitation and women safety in India.
Not to be missed, be sure to catch the film’s release internationally in cinemas on 11th August by Reliance Entertainment and KriArj Entertainment.
