'Khatron Ke Khiladi is all about luck'

'With Khatron Ke Khiladi, finally female stunt women are also getting a chance.'

Stunt woman Geeta Tandon tells us how life has changed after participating in the reality TV show.

Stunt woman Geeta Tandon, who got evicted from the TV show Khatron Ke Khiladi, says she could not have asked for more from her experience on the show.

Geeta left the other contestants surprised, as she walked away from the show.

Here, she tells Rajul Hegde about how the stunts on the show are different from what she does in the movies and how she got into this unusual profession.

Everybody expected a stunt woman to last till the end.

Being a stunt woman, I don’t get scared. But Kathron Ke Khiladi is all about timing, patience and luck.

In films, you get a couple of retakes before the action director approves the stunt, but on the show it has to be in one take.

I faced problems with the underwater action sequences though I have done water stunts before for TV and films without any glitch.

Do you have a water phobia?

A short time ago while shooting for a television show, I had to sink into the water for an actor.

Somehow I got knotted in the weeds and couldn’t come up. Since then, I have had a psychological block about water related stunts.

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How was your experience of the show?

Khatron Ke Khiladi has been a very thrilling experience. I have always done stunts for the artists; the show gave me the platform to work with the artists and not just for them.

That turned out to be great fun. The show has given me a lot of exposure. I have got a great opportunity to further my future.

With Khatron Ke Khiladi, finally female stunt women are also getting a chance.

I am glad that I lasted for 12 episodes but I could have lasted longer. I feel that I fared better than Gauahar Khan in the elimination round.

Then again, it depends on the consistency of the stunts in the previous round. (Gauahar was eliminated along with Geeta but she will come back next week).

How do people react when they see you now, after the show?

The public now recognises me.

People in my building are very proud of me. My children are proud that their teachers talk about me. Friends and their mothers ask them whether they can come and meet me.

When I go shopping in malls, people take my autograph.

Recently, when I was shooting, the families of the security guys and bouncers came to take a picture with me. It’s a different feeling now (smiles).

Imagine, 20 years after my mother’s death some relatives of ours who didn’t even bother to check how we lived, called me after the show. Now they want us to keep in touch with them! See what people are like?

What will you do with the money you have earned through this show?

I made no demands when I was offered the show. I was more than happy to be part of it.

Whatever I have earned through the show, I have put in a fixed deposit for my children’s future.

What do you have to say about the show’s host Rohit Shetty?

He is my guru. I survived in the show for so long only because of his guidance and motivation.

He is the best director I have worked with. People who work in his movies will tell you why he is the best.

He takes care of every person on the set.

Tell us little bit about you.

I lost my mother at a very young age. With four brothers and sisters to look after, I was given away. I was married off at the age of 15 by my aunts.

I have two kids but the marriage didn’t last. I passed out of Class X on my third attempt but was not qualified enough to do anything after the divorce.

I started as an extra in films. Seeing my carefree attitude, a lady approached me and asked if I wanted to be a stunt girl. What started as a hobby turned into my livelihood.

It’s been seven years now. I have pulled off stunts for actors such as Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Parineeti Chopra and Bipasha Basu, in films such as Chennai Express, Hasee Toh Phasee, Ragini MMS, Welcome, Corporate, Singh Saab The Great and many more films.

I am able to look after my children, and live independently.

One has to work really hard to keep fit. There are side effects like injuries, cuts and bruises and sometimes I have fainted, but you have to carry on.

Be it cable shot, jumping from heights, car racing or bike crashing, all the stunts we perform are tough.

I am working on Singham 2 and Welcome Back now.