This Article is From Dec 19, 2014

Aamir Khan's PK: Meet the Extra Who Plays the Beggar on the Bridge

Aamir Khan's PK: Meet the Extra Who Plays the Beggar on the Bridge

A still from the film PK

New Delhi:

If you've seen Aamir Khan's PK you might have noticed him walk stroll across a bridge past a blind beggar, help himself to some cash from the outstretched begging bowl, and sidle away furtively.

Rumour has it that the bare-chested extra, his eyes covered by thick dark glasses, is a real-life beggar named Manoj Roy. Rumour also has it that his brief appearance in PK prompted Manoj to abandon his post outside Delhi's Jantar Mantar and return home to Tezpur in Assam where he now has a job in a shop. This is rumour, of course, which we cannot independently verify.

In the scene from the movie, Aamir's PK - dressed in yellow short, transistor slung across, briefcase in hand - strides across the bridge towards the unsuspecting beggar. He abstracts some notes from the waiting begging bowl and then some more, as co-star Anushka Sharma's voice over says, "Kehta tha, sheher ke har bridge par hote hain ATM. Jitney paise chahiye, nikaal lo" - he used to say that there is an ATM on every bridge, take out as much money as you need.

Residents of Delhi will recognise the location of the scene as the footbridge outside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, that one sees in the backdrop.
 


There's more PK trivia, if you're interested. Apparently, his whacky costumes - from lehenga to bandwala's outfit - in the film were not tailored for him but sourced randomly from ordinary folks.

"All clothes I have worn have been picked up from someone. Costume designers were told that they have to walk around the streets and if they find something interesting they should request that person to give that in an exchange of money or other clothes," Aamir said in an earlier interview.

Meanwhile, the whackiness doesn't end here. Remember Aamir's adorable 'Battery Recharge' dance move? The man behind it is not PK's official choreographer Ganesh Acharya, but director Rajkumar Hirani.
 


The director explained in a behind-the-scenes video, "I didn't want this to look like a conventional dance number, so we started meeting people who have not done film choreography earlier. Lot of people tried to work and came up with some excellent ideas and then we opened the trials for the film crew."

However, Raju Hirani had some help. After trawling through the mammoth pile of audition tapes, suggestions came from Aamir and his wife, filmmaker Kiran Rao. Finally, Mr Hirani called upon Bosco, one half of choreographer duo Bosco-Caesar, who helped him execute the dance move.
 



PK also stars actors Sanjay Dutt, Sushant Singh Rajput and Saurabh Shukla in supporting roles.

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