Meet the body doubles of Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Shah Rukh, Hrithik Roshan and Taapsee Pannu

In India, Bollywood stars are almost superhero-like. Bollywood movies show these actors single-handedly fight lions, obliterate entire mobs with one punch, jump between skyscrapers, and cheat death in every way possible. While we applaud their death-defying stunts we forget that it is rarely those stars who put their health and bodies at risk to make these stunts possible. The stars get the applause and these body doubles are forgotten. Here are 9 body doubles who risked their lives so the audience could enjoy seeing their favourite stars in superhero glory.

One snapshot from the set of ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ will make you do a double take. Salman Khan’s body double, Parvez Kazi, offered fans a picture side by side with the Bollywood superstar. Kazi recently published the photo with the 55-year-old actor on his social media, causing the Internet to go crazy — users can’t get enough of the eerie likeness between Khan and Kazi.

In what appears to be a behind-the-scenes photo in between takes, Kazi and Khan stand in matching clothes, both wearing grey tees with blue shirts. Kazi tweeted: “With Bhaijaan on Radhe set,” with the hashtag “#bodydouble.”

Kazi has worked as Khan’s body double in films like ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’, ‘Dabangg 3’, and ‘Race 3’, as well as films like ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ and ‘Bharat’. Kazi’s Instagram is brimming with photographs of himself on set dressed as Khan’s double. It’s difficult to tell Khan and Kazi apart in the images. Here are other stars with their doubles.

For the past 15 years, Prashant Walde has been Shah Rukh’s body double. He’s collaborated with the celebrity on films like ‘Om Shanti Om Don’, ‘Chennai Express’, ‘Dear Zindagi’, and ‘Fan’, among others.

‘Splitsvilla’ is a well-known MTV show. Divya Agarwal began her career in show business as a dancer and is now a well-known figure among the youth. Agarwal recently confessed to Times of India that she has worked as a body double for Bollywood diva Katrina Kaif. Agarwal also said that she worked as an extra in the Alia Bhatt, Sidharth Malhotra, and Varun Dhawan film ‘Student of the Year’.

The ‘Naam Shabana’ actor Taapsee Pannu shared a candid photo on Instagram with Sakshi Mehta, who worked with her as the second Assistant Director on the 2016 smash film ‘Pink.’ Pannu also said that Mehta appeared in the 2016 film as a friend of hers. The actor is seen seated on a chair, dressed as a patient in a hospital, while her body double, Mehta, sits next to her.

Deepika Padukone’s film ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ featured a female stuntwoman. Padukone played an endearing character in the film. Geeta, her stunt woman, completed all of the challenging stunts. In films like 'Chennai Express', 'Hasee Toh Phasee',' Ragini MMS', 'Welcome', 'Corporate', 'Singh Saab The Great', and 'Lamha', reality show ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ participant Geeta has done stunts for Parineeti Chopra (pictured), Katrina Kaif, and Bipasha Basu.

In the films ‘Kites’ and ‘Bang Bang’, Mansoor Khan performed numerous perilous stunts for Hrithik Roshan. Both projects feature the same stuntman. He is one of Mr Roshan’s most favoured body doubles.

Reshma, Bollywood's favourite female stunt double in the past, has been putting her life on the line for three decades, performing risky stunts for a number of Bollywood's leading ladies. The most famous of the many films in which Reshma has played a body double is 'Sholay'. "Aaj teri Basanti ke izzat ka sawaal hai, Chal Dhanno." Does this ring a bell Bollywood fans?