24 year old Jaipur boy, Himanshu Soni, who currently shoulders the monumental responsibility of essaying Buddha on Zee TV (Spice Studio), is indeed, a braveheart. Recently, he was required to shoot a sequence wherein he, as Prince Siddharth, attends the swayamwar of the beautiful princess Yashodhara in the hope of winning her hand in marriage. For this scene, he had to engage in a physical brawl with a very burly giant of a man to prove his might and thereby his worthiness as a suitor to Yashodhara. Unfortunately, barely two days before the shoot of this elaborate sequence, Himanshu fell off a horse in the middle of a shot, badly bruising his hands.
With the actor having injured himself and in severe pain, the crew decided it was time to look for a duplicate of Himanshu (a man who closely resembles the actor) to shoot the wrestling sequence. Given that a large portion of the fight sequence would have Himanshu tightly clasping the hands of his hefty opponent and the two struggling, stumbling and wrestling it out, there was no way Himanshu would be able to pull it off with his severely bruised palms.
But Himanshu put his foot down and insisted on shooting the sequence himself. He said, “I didn’t come from Jaipur to Mumbai with stars in my eyes only to let a body double shoot important sequences of the show I have landed after so much struggle. I am here to give it my best shot, so that people remember me as Buddha long after the serial goes off air. A little pain cannot stop me from doing my job.”
That’s the spirit, Himanshu!!!