KATHMANDU: In 1995, I was working in a garment factory in Los Angeles, America. One day, the factory owner joked, “You claim to be a close friend of Akshay Kumar. He is coming here tomorrow and doing a show at the Shrine Auditorium. And you don’t even know it.”

After hearing the owner’s words, I felt a little embarrassed. There is a large presence of the Indian community in America. Thus, if any artist arrives from India, they know about it first. My owner was also a member of a Sindhi family with a house in Mumbai. There was no way he wouldn’t know. That’s why he got a chance to tease me. But his remark was a major pinch for me in front of my friends.

Another Nepali, Bijay Niraula, was also in Los Angeles. The next day, I took him and headed towards the Shrine Auditorium. The auditorium is a famous theater in Los Angeles where artists from Michael Jackson to Madonna have performed concerts.

When we reached the auditorium, a huge crowd had already gathered. The entire Indian community residing in America had turned up to watch the event, which featured performances by artists like Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, and Manisha Koirala. The security personnel were struggling to manage the crowd.

Even in this situation, my attention was fixed on the owner’s comment. I felt compelled to meet Akshay just to show my friends. I requested a security guard standing in front of the gate, “I need to meet Akshay.”

It makes me laugh now to think about it: Who was Akshay Kumar to him? What would he have known? But he suggested as if he understood, “It’s not easy to meet the artists from the front. Go towards the back exit of the theater.”

The crowd was immense that day; it was impossible for the artists to enter the hall through the front door of the theater. The back door must have been opened for the artists to access the stage. Everyone is just like me, aren’t they! There was an equally large crowd at the back.

I am already a short man. I disappeared into that crowd. I thought, if I stand in the middle of the crowd, how will Akshay see me? Why not put on new shoes, climb the stairs leading to the theater door, and wait for Akshay? Being a bit higher up, I could clearly see Akshay when he arrived.

Sure enough, after a while, a limousine came to a stop right in front of the Shrine Auditorium gate. Salman Khan got out of the car. Oh my god! Salman’s craze.

I have never seen an artist with such a frenzy in my life. Girls were pushing and shoving to grab him. He ran to protect himself.

This scene became a hot topic of discussion not only for American but also for international media. However, my attention was neither on Salman nor on any other artist. I only needed to meet Akshay. How would this be possible in that crowd? For a moment, I was immersed in this thought. Just then, Akshay’s entry happened, he was the second person.

He was also climbing the peak of popularity at that time. Films like Khiladi and Mohra in which he acted had become hits. His fan following were growing. After the success of Mohra, Bollywood was also buzzing about Akshay and Raveena’s affair. Amidst these discussions, Akshay Kumar got out of the car holding Raveena’s hand. Outside the theater, pushing and shoving started to touch him as well. As the security personnel guarded them from the crowd of spectators and turned towards the back path of the theater, I shouted from afar, “Rajiv.”

Hearing his old name in the crowd, Akshay looked genuinely surprised, shaking his head in disbelief. Then, his gaze locked onto mine. What followed at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles became a moment everyone there witnessed. From amidst his fans, he shouted, “Shuny Bee!”

He pulled his hand free from Raveena, ran, grabbed me tightly with both hands, lifted me up as if lifting a cup after winning a game, and shouted again, “Shuny Bee! My friend!!”

Immediately after, he grabbed both Raveena and my hand and entered the theater. After this, he started asking, “Hey buddy! Where have you been?”

I said, “Right here in Los Angeles.”

Then he said, “This might be the last time I see you. I have to go to Canada tomorrow.” He asked an auntie standing there to take a picture and called the organizers, requesting them to provide me with a VIP pass.

At this point, I said, “It’s not just me, I have another friend with me. I will only stay if you provide two passes. Otherwise, I will leave.”

He provided two passes. Bijay and I sat in the front row of the Shrine Auditorium and watched Akshay’s show.

My first meeting with Akshay was in 1988 on the beach of Juhu, Mumbai. That too was in a martial arts fight. At that time, he had just returned after completing Muay Thai training in Bangkok. He was struggling in Mumbai to become an actor.

I had already gained fame by doing the ‘Ninja Razor’ advertisement. Having also acted with a few artists including Mithun Chakraborty, I had a good name in Juhu. Dara Singh used to pat me on the back when he saw me. I used to live in Saat Bangla. A little ahead of that was Lokhandwala.

 I used to go to Juhu Beach early in the morning to train some friends in martial arts. My daily routine was to visit film directors’ houses during the day to look for work and teach martial arts at Mumbai colleges in the evening.

I had a friend who learned martial arts from me, Balbir. We used to call him Ballu. One day he said, “One guy named Rajiv Bhatia lives in Lokhandwala.. He says he has returned after training in martial arts from Bangkok. He has challenged you to a fight.”

Akshay Kumar’s former name is Rajiv Bhatia. I was a strong young man of 20-21 years at that time. Hot blood. Why would I say ‘no’ to a challenge given to me! I told Ballu, “I am ready. Let him decide the place and time for the fight.”

What actually happened was that he also practiced in the morning 10 minutes away from Juhu Beach, where I practiced. Hearing my name everywhere, he was a little jealous too.

He proposed to fight at Juhu Beach near Saat Bangla, where he himself practiced. I took Ballu and reached the spot he had called for the fight with Akshay the very next day. About 15 to 200 people had gathered there knowing that our fight was happening. He was taller than me. We introduced ourselves.

He said, “Hi! I am Rajiv.”

I also said, “I am Shuny.”

In this meeting, he did not forget to mention that he had learned Muay Thai from Bangkok. I was also a person who had learned Taekwondo in Kathmandu and rushed to Mumbai to become an actor. Around 1981, when trainers were brought from South Korea to teach martial arts to the Army and Police in Nepal, I also got the opportunity to train in Taekwondo with the Nepal Police.

I said, “I am a Taekwondo player.”

Before the fight, we had an agreement: not to kick below the waist or above the neck. The fight started tough. Since he had learned in Bangkok, he kicked well. While the competition between the two was fierce, he suddenly hit me below the waist on the thigh.

I showed displeasure. Both of us were in position. I reacted strongly, “We agreed not to hit below the waist. Why did you hit my leg?” He gave no reaction. He just smiled slightly like a winner.

I did not like his behavior. If he breaks the rules, why should I worry? I executed a switch kick. I had stumbled when he hit my leg. I was a little faster.

I recovered. But he couldn’t stop my kick. He fell hard. After this, a rumor spread all over Juhu that Shuny made a ‘punching bag’ out of Rajiv.

At this time, a gym hall named Bajaj was very famous in Juhu. Bollywood star actors and wealthy people used to come there to exercise. Ballu went to the gym and spread the rumor. Sheru, who is now Salman Khan’s bodyguard, also used to go there to work out. He had a good friendship with Akshay. He went and told Akshay, “You are completely being insulted. There is a rumor all over the gym hall that Shuny beat you up.”

This was not pleasant news for Akshay, who was on a mission to build a career in films. He felt bad. Two days later, he came to my room at 5 AM, looking for my residence. I was an early to bed bird. Waking me up, he said, “Come on, let’s fight again.”

I was stunned.

What happened to him? That was the thought running through my mind in my interrupted sleep.

After he insisted so much, I also got up and said, “Alright. If you want to fight, let’s go back to the field. I am also ready.”

This time we went to fight in a grassy field. It was raining lightly. The ground was wet and damp. In a fit of anger, he constantly barraged me with kicks.

I managed to block his kicks. After a while, I also became aggressive. I was about to execute a flying spinning kick, but I guess his grip wasn’t good on the slippery grass, and he fell hard again.

After this, he realized that I was much ahead in martial arts. He extended a hand of friendship and requested me to teach him Taekwondo. Even then, he was good at round kicks. Other kicks were not good.

I started teaching him Taekwondo. Sometimes he would come to my place, and sometimes I would go to his house. His father had an old Fiat car. His father himself would drop us at Juhu in that car.  To establish himself in films, he would go to Asha Chandra acting classes sometimes, and Raghuvir’s dance class sometimes.

Walking with him, I also got a chance to learn acting. He was also doing photo shoots. He would show me everything. Akshay Kumar did not become a star just like that. He worked very hard for it. He faced many struggles in Mumbai’s film city. One day, after a long time without a break in films, his father told him, “Your life will pass by like this. If you don’t succeed in films, you will have to choose another path to run your life. Learn another job as well.”

After this, he took martial arts seriously. He said, “Look, Shuny, I am not a Black Belt. Help me somehow. I also want to teach martial arts.”

I taught him everything. Systematically, starting from the White Belt. I started giving him tips to make his kicks even better. He worked very hard. I also taught him kata (a Japanese term for a choreographed pattern of movements practiced in martial arts like Karate, Aikido, and Kung Fu).

In 1992, I suddenly received an invitation to go to America. The Korean trainer in Nepal invited me to come to America. Anyway, I was an ‘outsider’ for Mumbai. I was getting light work. I was also earning well from martial arts training. But when the proposal came from America, I was bitten by the Hollywood bug, not Bollywood. If I could play a Bollywood film, why not try one or two in Hollywood as well? Thinking this, I headed to America.

Before going to America, I took two friends and went to Film City to say ‘bye’ to him. At this time, he had gotten work in two films. But he hadn’t established himself. While he was busy shooting his third film, Khiladi, he came to meet me and said, “I have used the jump spinning kick you taught me.”

He had high hopes for this film. Sure enough, the film became a hit. When we parted, he hugged me. I was feeling sad at that time. Even now, when I go to Mumbai, we meet. He never tires of talking about old times. When introducing me to new people, he jokes and says, “My martial arts guru.”

Shuny Bee KC currently resides in America. This is a conversation with him by Nabin Aryal.