Leaping from helicopters or escaping from submerged cars comes naturally for Sanobar.

Mar 19, 2008 04:30 AM
Teenaz Javat
She stands a little over five feet six inches, but in Bollywood, she has taken on larger than life proportions as the youngest professional stuntwoman in the business.

At 21, Sanobar "” who prefers to be known by her first name alone "” has performed more than 500 Bollywood stunts. She has doubled for most of the biggest stars, including Esha Deol, Aishwarya Rai, Dhoom:2 star Bipasha Basu and Preity Zinta in Veer-Zara. Whether it's bungee jumping from a height of 150 metres or jumping from a flying helicopter onto a moving truck, she can seemingly tackle any stunt thrown her way.

And as if that weren't enough, when Sanobar isn't risking her own life performing, she's busy fixing other people's bones "” she's also a licensed physiotherapist and fitness consultant at a Mumbai hospital.

Born and raised in Mumbai, Sanobar took to daredevilry early. "I performed my first stunt at the age of 11. It was just for kicks," she says. "I was in Grade 7 and I used to ride my Honda Hurricane 250cc motorbike with my friend Prakash. We used to switch seats at speeds of over 130 km/h."

"Prakash" is Prakash Chauhan, her childhood sweetheart. They met when she was 10 and have been together ever since. A stuntman himself, Chauhan travels with Sanobar wherever she goes. "He is like my shadow and in essence my mum is relieved that I have someone who can look after me. He has been my inspiration all along," she says.

From the outset, Sanobar showed a flair for the martial arts, gymnastics, skydiving and kickboxing. She earned a black belt in karate at 14 and won a silver medal representing India in the Asian Ju-Kumite Championships (in which contestants use their bare hands and feet to drive their opponents to the ground). Sanobar's family has rallied around her career and she says she owes her success to her mother, Tehmi, and her grandfather, Dhunjishaw Baria.

"My mum is the most practical person I have seen. She was not one to stop me at all. In fact, when I started performing stunts on my motorbike, instead of stopping me, she bought me a helmet. Later on as I progressed to performing more dangerous stunts, she bought me the best protective gear money could buy. I have a state-of-the-art fire suit to protect me from burns. My grandfather, too, was constantly re-energizing me and backing me up."

Navigating Bollywood can be daunting at the best of times even to seasoned actors. Moreover, with so many second- and third-generation actors seamlessly filling their parents' shoes, Sanobar has had more than her share of challenges breaking in to the business. She attributes her success partly to her street smarts. "Some actors treat you with respect and some don't. I am pretty thick-skinned. I just go in, do the stunt and am out the door. Some actors claim to do the stunts themselves and some give you the respect you deserve.

"A case in point is Aishwarya Rai. I am at a loss for words to describe how caring she is. Before I go into action mode she consults the action director about the level of danger involved in execution. After the stunt is over, she comes looking for me to see if all went well."

Not one to mince words, Sanobar lashes out at certain other stars who claim to do their own stunts. "In most cases they are not even aware that I have performed the stunt for them. By trying to hog all the credit they make fools of themselves. I don't think any Indian actor has the risk-taking ability to perform stunts the way their counterparts do in Hollywood."

Sanobar says her favourite stunt has been doubling for Zinta in Veer-Zara, in which she had to leap from a helicopter flying at 80 km/h. "It was very scary, but I did it "” not as much as a scratch on my body."

Sanobar is also in demand in foreign-funded productions, performing stunts for Zoop in India, and the upcoming Slum Dog Millionaire and First Fear. She admires the work ethic she found on those films. "Hollywood producers value your life. They buy you stunt-specific insurance. You are insured every time you execute the stunt. They are very professional. Sadly, that is not the case in India. In Bollywood, they do not care about your personal safety. Stuntpersons are given scant respect here."

Preparing for a stunt can be almost as daunting as the stunt itself. For Sanobar, it's a time for reflection. Once the action director explains the scene to her, she says she becomes oblivious to the makeup artist or the hairstylist working on her. "I am reflecting and concentrating on the stunt sequence. I just close my eyes and say a little prayer."

While some stunts are over in moments, others can take days to execute. And while the results may appear effortless, they require quick reflexes and astute judgment.

"I do deep breathing exercises daily to help with my concentration as one misstep can lead to a fatal disaster. I direct my energy on the shot and not on the danger element involved."

And the danger can be considerable. In the forthcoming film Tashan, in which she doubles for Kareena Kapoor, she was required to escape from the trunk of a car submerged in 10 metres of water and swim to the surface "” without an oxygen tank. On her wish list is to have a leading role, provided it calls for action. "I want to feel my adrenalin rushing when I am on the sets. What I wouldn't want to do is simply gaze into the eyes of some hero and cuddle him. That for me would be very boring stuff."

But boredom is something seemingly foreign to Sanobar. The lulls between her stunt work allow her to pursue her other career, at the prestigious Saifee Hospital in Mumbai. There, she advises patients suffering from obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, and conducts physiotherapy sessions by appointment.

A slow day may find her skateboarding in a Mumbai park, or brushing up on her skills for a movie in which she will be required to do flips.

Her mantra in life is simple: Do what you love so that you do it well. "Daredevilry comes naturally to me and I approach it with a passion. Danger just seems to melt into the sidelines."
http://www.thestar.com/DesiLife/article/347392