Over an 8-hour long maiden trip to Mumbai, Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan cycled, danced and sat atop a mare to promote his Indo-Chinese film, 'Kung Fu Yoga'
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 24, 2017)

"I doubt Jackie has time to breathe today," lamented someone from Chan's entourage, while the press waited for the Hong Kong superstar with bated breath. Jackie Chan was in India for a meager few hours to promote his upcoming film, 'Kung Fu Yoga', which features Bollywood stars including Sonu Sood, Amyra Dastur and Disha Patani.

This is the second time in this year that an international personality has swept tinsel town off its feet. But Vin Diesel, who arrived in the country to promote his Hollywood outing featuring Deepika Padukone, certainly had more time on hand to spare. For Jackie, crunching the multiple outings in eight hours must have been quite a feat, right? "If that man can break into Hollywood, he can manage anything," said an elderly scribe, almost addressing our concern.


At Kapil Sharma's show
When Chan arrived at the Mumbai airport yesterday at around 10 am, his co-star and the film's distributor, Sonu Sood was present to receive him. The actor was driven to Film City, where chat show host Kapil Sharma welcomed him and the team. Chan arrived on a bicycle with Sonu, and even sat atop a ghodi while on the show. Kapil made Chan mimick Shah Rukh Khan's signature style, and the former even narrated Khan and Amitabh Bachchan's dialogues to woo the audience.

Kapil also auctioned the cycle that Chan entered on, and which bore his signature. Audience member, Sheikh Fazil, purchased it for a whooping Rs 10 lakh. The action hero further added that he doesn't enjoy partaking in romantic films, and also told Kapil to aim for the Oscars.


Prepping for the press conference
After battling the wave of shutterbugs stationed outside his hotel at 4.30 pm, Chan, who was escorted to his room by his security, prepped for the press conference. Dressed in a Nilesh Mitesh outfit, he arrived at the red carpet outside the hotel's lobby, where professional dancers, prepped by Farah Khan, performed to the title track of the film. Actress Shilpa Shetty (inset) introduced the actor, and exclaimed, "I am a crazy fan of Jackie Chan. He truly is legendary and the world's greatest action star."

Chan crooned to his film's track, Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai, and his broken Hindi had the audience in splits. Bubbling with energy, he enacted an underwater scene that he shot with Disha and cribbed, "She almost made me drown but everyone was busy saving her. They feel he is Jackie Chan, he is strong. But I am just a normal human being."



Talking about his role, he elaborated, "If you watched The Myth (2005), you know the space of this film. It could be called a continuation." When asked if he'd like to be a part of a Bollywood project, Chan, who is well acquainted with Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, quipped, "Directors, please offer me one. I want to dance even though I don't know how to move my neck like Indians."

The after party
At the after party, B-Townies including Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Kangana Ranaut, among others, arrived to catch a glimpse of the superstar. Chan left the media scratching their heads by adding, "There is a big surprise for Salman on its way." He was reportedly scheduled to leave for Beijing at 11 pm.

With inputs from Letty Mariam Abraham