At nine, Aarav Bhatia is still way too young to drive. Nonetheless, Akshay Kumar’s son is the proud owner of a vintage Volkswagen Beetle. It’s an advance Diwali gift from filmmaker Vipul Shah who initially planned to keep the car.
The producer-director acquired the iconic car for his retro movie, Action Replayy, starring Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. However, the Beetle was blown up for a sequence in the movie. But by then, the filmmaker was so much in love with the car that he got it repaired for his personal use.
According to Shah, "The Beetle was the apple of everyone’s eye. And they ensured that extra special care was taken of it. So much so that everyone in the cast and crew was upset when they learnt that it would be actually blown up for a scene."
He adds, "Predictably, they were thrilled when I told them that I’d get it repaired and make it as good as it was before."
Apart from the movie’s team, Aarav too had become fond of the car.
“Akshay had brought Aarav to the sets when we were shooting with the Beetle… And in between shots, he also took him for drives,” recalls Shah, adding that Khiladi Junior too was upset to hear about the car being blown up for the movie. But recently, when the young boy discovered that Vipul ‘uncle’ owned the car, he was elated to see it back in its shining glory.
{{/usCountry}}“Akshay had brought Aarav to the sets when we were shooting with the Beetle… And in between shots, he also took him for drives,” recalls Shah, adding that Khiladi Junior too was upset to hear about the car being blown up for the movie. But recently, when the young boy discovered that Vipul ‘uncle’ owned the car, he was elated to see it back in its shining glory.
{{/usCountry}}That prompted the vintage car owner to gift it to his actor’s son, “It was great to see Aarav’s joy in seeing the car as it was… and I felt like gifting it to him.”