When Rohit Shetty spoke about his mother being a stunt double for Hema Malini

Rohit Shetty

With films like 'Golmaal' franchise and 'Singham' franchise to his credit, Rohit Shetty is unquestionably among the country's most successful commercial directors. However, he is not an outsider to the film industry. His parents were also an active part of the Hindi film industry. While his father M B Shetty was a renowned stuntman, his mother Ratna Shetty, too, was in the industry acting as a stunt double for stars like Hema Malini and Vyjayanthimala.

On Rohit Shetty's birthday today, we recall the time he spoke about his parents' connection with the industry.

In a recent interview with ANI, Shetty said both his parents were an inspiration for him. "My mom was a stuntwoman. All the 'Seeta aur Geeta' stunts you see and Vyjayanthimala rolling from the staircase, it's her. Her physique was such that," Shetty said. The 1972 film written by Salim-Javed and directed by Ramesh Sippy has an ensemble cast of Hema Malini (in a double role), Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Roopesh Kumar, Manorama, Satyen Kappu, Honey Irani and Pratima Devi.

Rohit Shetty recalled how his mother did a sequence in the film in which Geeta, the character played by Hema Malini, was seen sitting on a ceiling fan in the police station. "The fan sequence in 'Seeta Aur Geeta' or in 'Andaz''s song 'Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana' the top angle shots you saw... on the bike of Rajesh Khanna, that's my mom."

"So, it's our family business. It's in our DNA -- breaking bones ... breaking our own bones than the others," said the 49-year-old director whose debut web series 'Indian Police Force' was released recently.

Further talking about his father MB Shetty, he said, "He was not just a character actor, but also an action director. There was no social media... People were unaware of that. In 'Deewaar', the action in the godown scene, he directed that sequence. He was the one who invented the glass break...going through the glass. He used to get a lot of cuts. He was a very soft-spoken guy and very humble and down to earth as he came from a very humble background and very emotional".

As an action director, he did films including 'Don', 'The Great Gambler', 'Trishul', 'Deewaar' and 'Shalimar'. Meanwhile, Ratna Shetty also acted in films like 'Darar', 'Bade Ghar Ki Beti' and 'Yaar Gaddaar'.

Meanwhile, Rohit Shetty revealed on Koffee With Karan that his son Ishaan also wants to pursue a career in the movies. Talking about his son's career in the movie business, the director told ANI, "He wants to get into films...he is 17 now but wants to get into films. He represents our third generation and has already made his career choice. He wants to be in films. But I told him, 'Finish your studies first and then travel and work with me'. I am preparing him for the industry so that he doesn't get blinded by the arclights. It should not come as shocker to him (Ishaan) that despite the fact we live in the same house, he rides an autorickshaw or a normal bike or bus and I travel in a car. He shouldn't think that his father has changed. I tell him, 'think as if you're training, you've to start from where I started. You might have to put up at a hotel along with other technicians and that will be the best training for you than going to a film school'".