In an April Fool’s prank, Tiger Shroff violently shook a bottle of Coke and asked his co-star Akshay Kumar to help him open it only for Kumar to spray himself with the sticky liquid while Shroff laughed in the background. One can assume the pranks refer to the banter between Shroff’s and Kumar’s characters in their upcoming film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. But, not only did this look like a rejected scene from Just for Laughs Gags — it was also not particularly relevant to what the film seems to be about: two soldiers from an elite Indian force who take down a masked enemy of the nation.
Recently at a fan event in Lucknow, Kumar and Shroff took their promotional antics to new heights — literally — by descending from the heavens like action demigods. One has to give Kumar full credit for how he has stayed true to his ‘Khiladi’ legacy, often taking the “stunt” part of the publicity very seriously. As the original action hero of Bollywood, he has apparently done all his stunts by himself, including the one in Khiladi 420 (1999) where he stood on a plane 1000 ft above the ground and jumped onto a hot air balloon without any wires or CGI. At the event in Lucknow, with music from Bade Miyan Chote Miyan blaring in the background, Shroff and Kumar showcased their daredevil skills, proving that their upcoming flick isn’t just talk — it’s all action, all the way. The lack of crowd management at the event caused chaos and chappal-flinging frenzy that wasn’t exactly part of the scripted performance, but it grabbed headlines nonetheless, proving the adage that any publicity is good publicity.
Kumar’s Bade Miyan Chote Miyan publicity approach is not an apple that has fallen far from the tree when you scrounge through his previous promotional hijinks which are riddled with flashy stunts and that induce awe, and can even charm. Here, we have put together our favourites.
