Geeta Tandon faced years of abuse but kept fighting to become a bollywood stuntwoman
Geeta Tandon’s career began by taking the fall for many a Bollywood stars. Deepika, Katrina, Bipasha and Parineeti owe a part of their ‘action-hero’ image to Geeta who was a stunt-woman in films. “I don’t get scared of jumping off buildings, crashing bikes or racing cars,” Geeta told The Indian Express. In 2014, after being in the film industry for six years, Geeta got an opportunity to appear on the popular TV show Khatron Ke Khiladi – a show she followed as a keen viewer.
Geeta shot to fame with her stint on TV. Though she was experienced at carrying off dangerous stunts in films, she confessed that being a participant on the TV show did have its own challenges. She said, “In films you get a couple of takes before the action director okays the stunt, but on the show, it has to be in one go. There are no retakes.”
In a feature by Vagabomb, Geeta speaks of her turbulent past-marred with domestic violence and abuse. “I was 14 when I was married off and had no idea what it entailed. Barely five days after our wedding, my husband started throwing both tantrums as well as utensils at me. He was a drunkard, and would often pass out by the time he got home. Initially, the fights were fewer, but over the days they got more and more violent. My mind was conditioned to stay quiet and take the pain stoically.”
The scars of rape and physical abuse during her pregnancies spurred Geeta, then 20, to leave her husband and move on. She wasn’t educated enough to land a job by herself. “People would ask me in interviews, ‘aap kya karoge.’ I would say, ‘main kuch bhi karungi.’ I didn’t even know what it meant back then,” stated Geeta.
Life started afresh when some of Geeta’s friends introduced her to the idea of performing stunts in films. “My life changed for the better when Rohit Shetty offered me stunts for Khatron Ke Khiladi. Mere liye toh God hain woh… I had saved some money from my previous assignments. He was kind and gave me a huge sum without asking any questions. With that, I bought myself a small flat. My joy knew no bounds,” Geeta told Vagabomb.
Think Change India salutes Geeta’s positive attitude. This is what Geeta has to say about life: “Life has roughed me up a lot, but my faith in God pulled me through it all. I owe everything I have earned in my life to my children. Their support and love kept me going. Quite early on, I realized that life is all about believing that good things will come your way. It is about keeping up the fighting spirit and facing all odds valiantly.”
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