Vidyut Jamwal and fellow Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan  greeting each other at the Pro Kabaddi League  match in New Delhi this week. Right: Jamwal with family supporters and   players of the Dabang Delhi kabaddi professional team after a match in New Delhi.

By Updesh Kapur
New Delhi

The doorbell rang twice. It was 10.30pm. A young boy was patiently waiting outside the house.
Knowing who it was, my son obliged and let his friend inside.
The boy was alone but word had spread in the local neighbourhood, thanks to my excited little one, that “their celebrated son” had jetted into Delhi from Mumbai.
Bollywood actor Vidyut Jamwal was back in the capital where he spent many of his years growing up.
The boy wanted a photograph with his hero of Indian cinema.
On a flying promotional visit, the 35-year-old, dubbed India’s new action hero for stunts never before seen on the silver screen, Jamwal broke free from the dining table filled with home-cooked food and headed straight to the door.
A photograph with the celebrity would undoubtedly be treasured for years to come.
It was also a special moment for Jamwal who cherishes his fans, applauding them for supporting an actor who was made a mark in an industry in which his family had no previous family connection.
Like fellow actor and friend Shah Rukh Khan, these two Delhi boys have risen through Bollywood’s toughest circles with no industry influence to make a name for themselves.
And this was clearly evident over the next 24 hours or so in his company, hearing his thoughts and listening to his take on a fiery industry which churns out hundreds of movies a year making it the world’s biggest and busiest.
Seeing the beaming face of the little boy being snapped with a personality puts into perspective the hundreds more who enjoyed a glimpse of Jamwal the following day.
Coming home to his mother’s cooking, he also had an opportunity to meet his sister now living in Qatar, her two children and me, his brother-in-law.
The evening started with his favourite dish, kidney “rajma” beans and rice at home. The following night, after a busy schedule it was back home to mum’s food. Like any son or daughter would profess, there’s nothing that compares to coming home to home-cooked grub.
Our day was somewhat dominated by Delhi’s notorious snarling traffic and heavy summer rains – almost four hours of driving between various locations.
We were on the way to his hotel where his manager Abbas was to brief him on his duties for the day: a few telephone interviews with newspapers and TV entertainment channels rounded off by the main event of the day.
Home team Dabang Delhi was to play a crucial match against Hyderabad in the Pro Kabaddi League in the heart of the capital. Jamwal was to make a guest appearance and perform some of his jaw-dropping stunts that have earned him recognition in the film world.
With a new braided hair-do and chiselled jaw more evident, I was pretty sure social media would comment on the look in the evening – and I was right as pictures and comments circulated very quickly.
The confined space of an AC car was a perfect opportunity to catch up on all news Vidyut Jamwal. For my daughter Aditi, it was more who’s your favourite actress and who would you like to star with? Is it Deepika, Priyanka or even Kareena? For my son, it was more like how did you get the physique that so many want to emulate?
Having conquered the catwalk as a successful model in an ongoing career dating back 10 years, Jamwal got his Bollywood breakthrough in Force, playing a villain opposite fellow model-turned actor John Abraham in 2011 that led to rave reviews.
With a dozen best male debut film awards to his name, nominated by industry professionals, cinema lovers and film critics, the scene was set for bigger and better things ahead.
Never before has an actor playing a negative role in his first film struck the right chord with audiences.
It was a huge gamble that paid off.
Jamwal had hit the right note, aided by the rapturous accolades for his incredible stunts he performs himself taking up cinematic challenges that others dare not.
Whether it is falling into a gorge hundreds of feet deep, or wrapping himself around the bad guys with countless speedy twists and turns thanks to his majestic martial arts skills, he became noticed very quickly.
The scripts poured in.
With a model’s physique, an athlete’s speed, handsome looks and towering height that have females craving for every bit of him, he had entered the big time and needed to keep up the momentum. Knowing him for years, he has never been star struck, only happily content mixing with the A-list in Hollywood’s equivalent.
“Hard work and nothing but hard work and striving to be the best in what you do can make you successful in life,” he says in a too-often heard line ensuring his young niece and nephew hear him loud and clear, egging them on to work and indeed play hard in life.
Jamwal has charted a careful strategy in Bollywood’s home city of Mumbai, not churning movie after movie like his peers.
“It’s not about the numbers, it’s about the quality and getting the right script,” he says.
Having made three Bollywood films and half a dozen south Indian movies over the past four years, Jamwal is pleased with what he has achieved so far, but will up the ante from next year admitting scripts are getting better and better.
He is currently “patching” up Yaara, a romantic Hindi period action drama set in Indo-China but shot on location in Nepal and Georgia.
His demanding lead role opposite Shruti Haasan, daughter of veteran south Indian movie stars Kamal Haasan and Sarika, sees him playing a character who ages from a young adult of 25 to 45 year-old near middle-aged man, as well as losing and putting on weight.
The film, an Indian remake of the French movie Les Lyonnais, is much awaited as the buzz is all about the good chemistry between the pair.
“Shruti and I are just adding one or two more scenes for Yaara, which is quite challenging as the film has been shot over a period of 12 months and there is a need to capture the same look and same feel,” he says.
“There’s a packed release schedule of Bollywood movies between now and the end of the year which makes it difficult to release Yaara soon. But the producers and distributors are working on it.”
Right now, though, Jamwal openly talks about his next venture, the sequel to the highly popular Commando, in which he plays an undercover military agent out to get rid of gangsters terrorising a village community in north India.
His “one-man army” character earned him many followers across Indian cinema with Hollywood also knocking on his doors. He has already been contacted by British martial arts actor Scott Adkins, star of Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, for a joint collaboration.
“My focus is on getting Commando 2 to hit the floors in early October,” says Jamwal.
“Whenever there is a sequel, expectations are high to surpass the original. I can say with confidence that Commando 2 will be hundred times better than the first one with great stunts never before attempted.
His manager Abbas later tells me that the industry is looking forward to Commando 2, adding that Jamwal plans some of the craziest stunts ever.
“I am very comfortable with action movies but am keen on romantic leads,” Jamwal goes on, ensuring it would be a stark difference to his current type cast roles.
It begs the question who would be his on-screen love interest in future It’s only clues that draws answers.
“I love how Priyanka Chopra conducts herself. And how Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone have performed so gracefully on screen.”
It is the stunts however that Jamwal cannot get away from, making them the centrepiece of the pre-kabaddi matches being screened live from Delhi’s Thyagaraj Stadium this week.
A packed stadium watching two gripping matches sees Jamwal perform scenes from Commando. The fan following is mob-like and there is not a moment he is able to sit comfortably without the ever-intruding selfies.
‘I am fine with it,” he says. “We live for fans and we owe it to them. There are many Bollywood celebrities who turn their backs on them which is not right.”
And it is this that prompts my son to say: “You know, uncle, you have a good quality about you. You’re ready to do anything for your fans.”
He was right.
After hearing Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan was present cheering on kabaddi team Jaipur Pink Panthers which he owns, my kids wanted a selfie urging their uncle to help.
The buddies met, hugged and Bachchan kindly obliged. Jamwal is set to co-star with Bachchan in a forthcoming film.
But next stop is Bangalore for Men’s Fashion Week in a few days. My creative daughter took time to give Jamwal a few handy tips on dress sense and style.
Having tread the boards with former Miss World Priyanka Chopra, and actresses Katrina Kaif and Kangana Ranaut, he is preparing for another round showing off his attire.
Adds Jamwal: “Modelling is always my first love. It’s great to have charted a career on the catwalk which has helped me get where I am today. Hard work pays.”
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lUpdesh Kapur is a PR & communications professional, columnist, aviation, hospitality and travel analyst. He can be followed on twitter @updeshkapur