Akshay Kumar has a huge aura around him Mandira Bedi

Akshay Kumar has a huge aura around him: Mandira Bedi

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Popular actress and TV host Mandira Bedi says she got a chance to experience the "huge aura" around Akshay Kumar while shooting with the Bollywood superstar in South Africa for the forthcoming adventure reality show "Khatron Ke Khiladi Level 2".

"He (Akshay) has a very huge aura about him. There used to be this deadly silence whenever he came in. Though he would joke and stuff with us, at the end of the day he was he and we were who we are," Mandira told IANS in an interview.

She will be seen performing daredevil stunt on the show. She says Akshay's presence was highly inspirational.

"When I saw the first season of the show, I felt that there could be no better choice of a host than him. I enjoyed his sense of humour, I liked how he dealt with situations, how he inspired the contestants. I was lucky to have experienced it.

"He had a quirky sense of humour, yet he was motivational, so inspirational. He himself has done so many stunts and is actually very strong. So even when you see him, you just want to be better - in that sense, he is very motivating. I like him so much more after I have experienced it," she said.

"Khatron Ke Khiladi" is the Indian version of internationally popular show "Fear Factor". It requires contestants to perform a series of dangerous tasks and whoever does them all walks away with a cash prize.

Mandira, who had bagged the title of being India's first AXN "Fear Factor" winner, says she herself approached the producers of "Khatron Ke Khiladi".

"While watching season one, I used to wonder 'Why am I not in this show?'. I was shooting something else that time but I really wanted to be a part of it. For the second season, it so happened I called Endemol (the producers) and said that my dates are free now.

"I was probably the only crazy one to have called them and said: make me a part of this show. I think it's just great to be able to do something that prepares you for any kind of situation in future," she said.

The show helped her in realising the biggest fear of her life.

"I have come to realise that my biggest fear is facing failure - it is more than the fear of height, more than the fear of water and more than the fear of creepy crawlies, little animals, which I don't like. And that's what drove me to do the stunts," she said.

There was one task that Mandira felt was a little too tough to handle, but she managed it well.

"For one task, my head was put in a box which had breathing holes in it and it was closed. They put a nose clip, gave me goggles and gave me ear plugs and then they threw on my face Madagascar hissing cockroaches - they were the size of my finger.

"It was disgusting. And they went psss...psss..psss. It was a very bad feeling. We had to try and get out of it after a long procedure. It was probably three-four minutes long, which felt like an hour. I did the task because I was determined to go down the show trying, not crying," she said.

Mandira will contend with beauties like Sushma Reddy, Carol Gracias, Shonali Nagrani, Shveta Salve and Anushka Manchanda among others on the show that premieres on Colors Sep 7 at 9 p.m. 

Khatron Ke Khiladi Rupali nervous about wearing swimsuit

'Khatron Ke Khiladi' Rupali nervous about wearing swimsuit

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Television actress Rupali Ganguly says she did many things for the first time in the forthcoming adventure reality show "Khatron Ke Khiladi - Level 2", including wearing a swimsuit. But she is now worried how she will look on screen.

"I have done a lot of firsts in my life with this show. Like I have never ever worn a swimsuit on television. But I have finally done that also. I don't know how terrible I'll be looking," Rupali told IANS over the phone from Mumbai.

The actress, who was seen in shows like "Sanjeevani" and "Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai", has completely surprised herself with the sort of stunts she has performed on the second season of "Khatron Ke Khiladi".

"Khatron Ke Khiladi- Level 2" will be hosted by Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar and will go on air on Colors channel on Sep 7.

"I've never had an adventurous streak in me. I was boring as a child and I never did anything that I have done on the show. It's been the biggest high of my life," said Rupali, who also participated in Sony TV's reality show "Bigg Boss".

The actress says "Khatron Ke Khiladi..." provided her an opportunity to explore herself as a person. But she had her reservations about being in the company of models like Carol Gracias, Jesse Randhawa and Sushma Reddy.

"I could never imagine taking up a show like this but it's the result of an effort to do something different. The show has given me a chance to explore myself as a person in the sense that I now know how I will react in a given situation. I was initially very confused whether to say yes or no to the show because of these sexy tall babes, but it's been a very exciting experience," she said.

Talking about her experience with claustrophobia, she said: "I am not really scared of living creatures so that bit of the show was fine. But I was unhappy about facing claustrophobia. I was required to hold my breath and be under water for a task - and I am totally petrified of doing something like that. I am glad I faced it but haven't really overcome it."

The actress is hardly seen in any soaps these days. "Something interesting keeps coming, but it has to be very different for me to take it up. Till then, I am happily jobless."

Action comedy are boring Akshay Kumar wants some romance now

London, Sep 1 (IANS) He has done loads of action films and made audiences laugh in rib-tickling comedies, but Bollywood star Akshay Kumar now says he's bored and wants some romance...on screen of course!

"I want to do more romance. I've actually gotten bored of comedy and action. Yes, I just want to do some romantic films. And that's what my next thing is going to be," Akshay told Myleen Klass in an interview for CNN's "The Screening Room Xtra" programme.

While his fans enjoyed actioners like "Khiladi", "Mohra" and "Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi", Akshay also drew audiences for laugh riots "Hera Pheri", "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi", "Welcome" and "Sing Is Kinng" among others.

"...I've done quite a lot of comedy now and I don't know...sometimes an actor is very sensitive about what he's doing and where he wants to go ahead and do. I know comedy has worked a lot and it has worked brilliantly for me.

"Earlier, when I used to do action I would never think about comedy and then I started getting into it and I was quite successful. So now I've never done a complete romantic film. I did 'Dhadkan', which was eight years back. But now I wanna get into it and do at least two or three romantic films now," said the actor, who entered Bollywood in 1991.

One of the highest earning members of the Hindi film industry, Akshay maintains that there is no sure-shot secret to success, but stressed that hard work and being "a producer's actor" is essential.

"It's actually your hard work, your punctuality...Even if you're not a good actor, to be a producer's actor is very essential...If you finish your films on time, save a lot of money for the producer. I remember there was a time when I had delivered 14 flops in a row. But I still had movies along with me for a very simple reason, because I was a producer's actor."

"I had good films still coming... I had finished all films in a three-month span. Even if they went for loss, they still preferred working with me. And after that, even I thought my career was over. But it still carried on," Akshay added.

And luck, he said, is of supreme importance for remaining on top.

"I've just been lucky... a lot of times I've watched my films and I felt it's not good. And those films worked. Like I tell you another film of mine was "8x10Tasveer". I love that film... When I saw it, it's good but it didn't work at all. So I don't know exactly what works and what doesn't work. You just flow. I liked "Chandni Chowk To China". I did it with Warner Brothers, I was very confident and it didn't work at all."

So why didn't it work?

"I think it was the storyline. Like 'Kambakkht Ishq' was another film where that combination got together (Bollywood and Hollywood); so that worked. But this one didn't. So it's not the combination, it's actually the script - and sometimes the script doesn't work."

The actor also firmly believes that the blessings of his parents too go a long way in making him the star he is today.

"I would say my success lies at the feet of my parents because that's been my biggest strength and that's what we Hindus believe in. Every morning before going to work just touch your parents' feet and go ahead in life. That's my personal belief and I followed that in my life. And I told a lot of people and they have also been successful. People may believe it or not, but that's exactly what I believe in," Akshay said.