Don't test your luck too often

“The more one learns martial arts, the lesser he uses it,” says Colin Handley, one of Hollywood’s best-known stuntmen. At 54, Handley is sharing his life-long experiences in the field of martial arts and stunts training in cinema in the form of a special workshop for students of the Marwah School of Fims and Television, Noida.
Being a teacher is no big hassle for Handley. “I started out as a martial arts teacher and have been teaching actors in Hollywood for so long, so it comes naturally to me,” he says. He is also running a training institute for aspiring stuntmen called the Australian Stunt Academy with his wife, Christine.
“I have just watched Kkrish and have not been able to stop raving about it,” he says. “I found the wirework technique used by the trainers at par with the international standards.” As far as other films go, Handley says he has not had the time to watch too many. “I did watch a couple of old Hindi films but I did not think much of the stunts. I can see that the Indian film industry has come a long way from that time.”
As a stuntman, he has had several accidents, “Thankfully, none of them were too bad. I have just broken my hand and nose a couple of times,” he says laughingly. “I feel the most essential component of a stuntman is a sense of fear. It is this sense that restrains a person from doing something foolhardy. It keeps the mind alert of one’s own safety along with that of those around him.”
Besides his stint as a teacher, Handley also has a dream soon coming true before his eyes. “I really wanted my son to continue in my footsteps, and I am glad, he is as keen on doing the same,” he says of his 18-year-old son, Riyan. “Riyan sometimes gets reckless so I never let him try anything too risky. Since I have been in the field I know how dangerous an act is. I always stay by his side during a dangerous stunt. He does not like it many-a-times and insists on doing the stunt. I tell him that I have been lucky to have survived so long and he should not test his luck too often,” he says before taking off to a sword-fight with Riyan.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 21, 2006