It’s interesting how we hero-worship Bollywood actors, taking them to be Gods in most cases and condone them of their misdeeds because they’re the stars! What is more interesting is that we know nothing about the men and women who actually pull off the breathtaking stunts, the credits of which are seamlessly given to the Godlike stars of Bollywood. These daredevils of the film industry, are underpaid, never invited to award ceremonies and often find themselves in the most unprofessional, hazardous work environments. Let’s meet some of these super stuntmen and women of Bollywood. Riyaz Shaikh Riyaz Shaikh has been in the business for about 25 years now and he’s still fit as a fiddle. His father’s been a stuntman too and Riyaz, who had started off stunting for actors like Govinda is now body doubling for industry biggies like Hrithik Roshan. Although he has years of experience, Riyaz still felt the jitters when he had to jump off the 32nd floor of a building while body doubling Hrithik Roshan. However, the one thing that worries him the most, like most of his fellow stuntmen, is the lack of insurance plans covered for them in case things go wrong.

Habib Haji

Habib Haji, son of Haji Kasam, is a stuntman by his own rights. Although he had witnessed his father’s untimely death on the sets of a film shoot, Habib decided to get into the same profession as he grew up. It seems that he has carries forward the legacy of his late father’s flipping cars as he recalls one of the most dangerous stunts he had to pull off – flipping a car in the air for chase sequence for the movie Risk.

However, Habib declares that it is the thrill, more than the money that keeps him going. He also loves to collect the old cars from the sets.

Reshma

She was an integral part of a scene in the iconic movie, Sholay. However, she never really became the icon, she deserved to be herself. Remember the scene were Dhanno (Hema Malini) ran her horse cart that almost had a wheel coming off while escaping Gabbar to save her modesty? Well, it was Reshma riding the precariously broken cart at full speed and that’s not the only stunt she had pulled off in the industry.

Reshma, now a senior citizen, stepped into the business when she was only 14 and had body doubled actresses like Meena Kumari, Hema Malini, Saira Banu, Dimple Kapadia and many more.