Out of action

AAKANKSHA NAVAL-SHETYE Times News Network / Jul 23, 2007, 00:00 IST

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The return of Stallone, Willis and Ford to Hollywood's box office has set Bollywood's action bells ringing.

The return of Stallone, Willis and Ford to Hollywood's box office has set Bollywood's action bells ringing. Move aside caped crusaders and the rest of the superheroes, for the real heroes are back. And it's time for some kick-ass action at the box office, as Hollywood is witnessing a return of the original action heroes. So, while Bruce Willis made a comeback as John McClane in Die Hard 4 after 18 years, Hollywood hunk, Sylvester Stallone too reprised his role as boxing legend Rocky Balboa for the Rocky series and as the mercenary John Rambo for John Rambo. Even Harrison Ford is back to play Indiana Jones in the fourth sequel. Never mind that Willis is 52, Stallone 60 and Ford 65. These guys are kicking some serious butt at an age when most of the other actors are reduced to the shadows of their former glorious selves. What's more, these films have exceeded box office expectations and have set the cash registers ringing. But while, Hollywood has welcomed these ageing actors with open arms and is certainly celebrating their return, Bollywood still seems to be warming to the idea of gun-toting actors at that age, if the dearth of action figures at present is anything to go by.
Says trade analyst Komal Nahta, "Only Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikanth seem to create that magic today, even as most other action heroes including Shatrughan Sinha, Mithun Chakraborty, Vinod Khanna seem to have settled for a lukewarm response to their showbiz careers." But Nahta adds, that though the present scenario doesn't look too promising for ageing action figures, the future's not too bleak. "We have actors like Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, who will be sure shot crowd pullers even at 60. Even actors like Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Hrithik Roshan and John Abraham of the current lot have it in them to continue being action figures even at later age."
Bollywood action hero Suniel Shetty - a die hard Sylvester Stallone fan agrees . "Sylvester is my hero. Who would ever say that he's 60? I mean look at all the action he does. Pure and raw. He's a man of heart and I just love when he says: Winning is not important , what's important is that you fight to the finish. I agree today there isn't a single hero in Bollywood who can be called a true action hero, who has achieved the kind of demi god like cult status like Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone. But there's always Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikanth, who can pull off anything even at this age."
Tusshar Kapoor couldn't agree more. Though he admits that he's more of an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan, he reveals, that he was amazed to see Bruce Willis in the latest Die Hard 4 and Stallone in Rocky Balboa. "Those guys don't look one bit their age. Now, I'm looking forward to the Indiana Jones sequel as well, Harrison Ford doing all that action at 65. I wonder how many of us will be able to do that action at that age."

Arjun Rampal, however, feels that though difficult, it's not impossible to replicate the success of the Hollywood action heroes here. "It's a tough act to follow. But I think, with the evolution of action here, it shouldn't be surprising to see all of us in action even at 70," he laughs. On a serious note he adds, "Hats off to Willis and Sylvester. Those guys don't only do death defying stunts, they defy age as well. I am sure the audiences would love to watch even senior actors in action. It's only a matter of the right projects and Bollywood guys can be as good, if not better." Bollywood hunk Sanjay Dutt also swears by Sylvester's rippling muscles and says, "We have grown up on Rocky and Rambo. He's my hero. It's great to see how they continue to rock even today." And does he see himself doing action a la Stallone at 60. "Why 60? I would love to do action even at 80," he smiles.

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