Rambo comes to Bollywood

One would have thought an Italian stallion like Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone would have his fair share of problems speaking Hindi. Think again! The macho star not only said a few words at the Kodak Theatre sets in LA for Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kambhakht Ishq, he also showed off some impressive research done on Bollywood.
Speaking to The Bombay Times from Hollywood, Sajid said, “It was the high point of my career to have the iconic Sylvester Stallone being called for a shot on my sets.”
Elaborating on the emotional moment, the filmmaker said, “I couldn’t believe the research Stallone had done on Bollywood. He knew that Akshay Kumar (who plays the lead in Kambhakht Ishq opposite Kareena Kapoor) doesn’t lift weights and that he is into the fitness activity called Parkour. Stallone also knew most of my films were made with Salman and Akshay and that I had six back-to-back hits over the past six years. Except for my latest film Heyy Babby, he had to struggle with the names of the rest, and his Hindi was atrociously cute!”
Sajid’s shoot with the superstar was completed in three days. “I met him at his house and my designer Sabina Khan did his fittings there. We had problems with his size, so Stallone produced costumes he had worn in Rocky and Rambo. We decided to let him wear his own suit for a sequence on the Academy Awards,” said Sajid.
Apparently, Stallone and Akshay also hit it off well. “It was as if they had known each other for a long time,” said Sajid. “Stallone was impressed by Akshay’s physique and exercise routine. They enthusiastically exchanged a lot of fitness tips.” At Paramount Studios, where Stallone performed a Rambo-like action sequence, the actor was bowled over by Kareena Kapoor. “He told her she was pretty,’” added Sajid.
The scene was co-ordinated by Hollywood action-director Spiro Razatos, who has done films like Vantage Point and Bad Boys 2. Stallone’s dialogues are in English, but there is a scene where he speaks in Hindi too. “He came to the sets fully prepared with his lines,” said Sajid. Now if only some of our own established stars could be as professional.