One of the most unforgettable moments in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’ is the dramatic climax where Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s character, Ragini, jumps off a towering cliff into a deep gorge to prevent her husband, Dev, from killing her captor, Veera. While the scene appeared seamless on screen, it was actually performed by Aishwarya’s body double, Sanober Pardiwalla, who has now revealed that the stunt almost ended in disaster.Taking to Instagram, Sanober shared a behind-the-scenes video from the 2010 film and recounted how an unforeseen complication left her stranded midway down the cliff during the sequence.Sharing the clip, she wrote, “150 feet. 3.5 seconds. One stunt I’ll never forget. During this cliff jump for Raavan, an unexpected complication left me suspended mid-cliff for nearly 30 minutes.” She explained that she decided to revisit the incident to shed light on a lesser-seen side of stunt work—handling situations when carefully planned action sequences take an unexpected turn.“In stunt work, preparation isn’t only about executing the stunt. It’s also about what you do when the unexpected happens. Stay calm. Control your breathing. Trust the safety systems. Conserve your energy,” she wrote. Recalling the tense experience, she added, “So that’s what I did—suspended beside a waterfall, breathing shallow, staying completely calm… and taking in a view very few people will ever see from that perspective.”Her calmness ultimately helped her through the ordeal, and the stunt later earned a nomination at the prestigious Taurus World Stunt Awards. Reflecting on the experience, Sanober concluded, “Some stunts test the body. Some test the mind. This one tested both.”Directed by Mani Ratnam, ‘Raavan’ featured music by AR Rahman and starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram, Priyamani and Ravi Kishan in key roles. The film was simultaneously released in Hindi and Tamil, with Prithviraj Sukumaran playing Abhishek Bachchan’s role in the Tamil version, while Vikram appeared in both versions.Released in 2010, ‘Raavan’ opened to mixed reviews from critics and audiences. It also marked Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan’s first on-screen collaboration after their marriage in 2007.
