A joyous shout is all that describes what you’re feeling
Actors turn thrill-seekers!
Imagine standing at the edge of a drop, the ground hundreds of feet below you. Just before the free-fall, a deep breath calms that fluttery feeling in your stomach. But once you start plummeting, a joyous shout is all that describes what you’re feeling. Most people cannot resist experiences like that! Even cricketer and ODI team captain MS Dhoni answered his adventure-lust by doing a para-jump as part of his training with the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army (TA).
DC talks to a few actors who are among a list of celebrities known to indulge their inner adrenaline junkie from time to time, whether it's competitive racing or paragliding. For most, Nivetha Pethuraj is a model and Miss India-UAE — a Tamil girl who just might steal our hearts with her debut in the upcoming Oru Naal Koothu. Most do not know of her passion for racing through the streets of Dubai in a Dodge Challenger, her muscle car. The young star loves to drag race — a type of competitive automobile racing. “Dubai is well-known for its fancy cars — AMGs, Lamborghinis and Ferraris.” Doesn’t she get scared? “Drag racing isn’t as dangerous as other races. Well, even if you are a tiny bit freaked out, the minute you see a mustang GST and Camaro SS roar, you just want to take them down,” she revealed.
Describing her beloved Dodge, she said, “My car is the godfather of all muscle cars. But in quarter mile racing, I usually lose to Mustangs. On the night of my first race I tested my top speed and hit a 100 kmph in 6.8 seconds. I was pretty stoked!” Where does the drag racing happen? “We have a few spots where we meet. We line up at a red signal, then go for a quarter mile, always on the lookout for cops!” she laughed.
Arun Vijay is another actor with a penchant for spectacular thrills. He has tried many forms of adventure sports but his favourite is sky-diving. In fact, with 62 jumps under his belt, he is a licensed skydiver of the US Parachute Association. He has a bucket list that includes scaling Mount Everest and the Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States.
“I am a very adventurous person and I wanted to try out something new. It’s a risky sport, but the rewards are huge. If you take the last jump in Malaysia for example, which was at around 5.30 pm or so, you can even see the sunset!” said the actor, who credits wife Aarthi Mohan as his motivating factor. He said the sport has changed him. “You need to have presence of mind. People say sports and activities make you sharper and focused — this brings me focus. My training reflects in real life as well — in my work, and even when I am driving,” he asserted.
The passion for sky-diving and similar adventure sports is also seen in anchor/actress Akshara Gowda, who is an avid bungee jumper and para-glider. “I started with bungee jumping because I have a fear of heights, and I wanted to get over that fear. It’s not anything dangerous because they train you before the jump and safety measures are taken.
Of course my first few times were scary, but it gets better the more you jump,” she said.
“Being an actor isn’t the end of a story. Even if we are actors, it’s boring if you don’t do other things in your life. Since childhood I have been into sports. But when I travelled to the US for my film studies, I realised that acting isn’t all that we need to do. I am open to trying out new things, and you discover so much when you travel,” she concludes.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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