Nandana Sen flies across skyscrapers on motorbike!

Nandana is doing a cross between Lara Croft and Charlie's Angels in Cape Town in her next film. She revvs up a motorbike in her upcoming flick with Viveik Oberoi.

This has got to be one of the most dangerous stunts ever performed by an actress - Bengali beauty Nandana Sen, who is doing a cross between Lara Croft and Charlie's Angels in Cape Town in her next film, revved up a motorbike and sped from the rooftop of a 30-storey building right on to the adjacent skyscraper!

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"And to think I suffer from vertigo," she laughed. "They said I don't have to do it. They were willing to use a body double. But I'm glad I took the leap. It helped me to overcome my vertigo," Nandana, who did the stunt for a film by debutant director Kuki Gulati, told IANS.

"I knew how to ride a bicycle. So learning to ride a mobike was not that hard. But it wasn't an easy thing to speed across from one 30-storey building to another. Our action director Alan Amin was fantastic. I flew across one building to another. It was liberating," she added.

The yet-to-be titled actioner is being produced by Tips Films and Nandana will star opposite Viveik Oberoi.

"It's a very Matrix like look and role. I enjoyed the stunts immensely. And this role was a complete antithesis to what I play in Ketan Mehta's Rang Rasiya. It was wonderful to take up such a challenge," said Nandana, who is the daughter of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen.

She had to learn martial arts, how to fire a gun and how to ride a bike to play Viveik's action queen.

"I play an all-action girl who is an undercover cop. I learnt kick-boxing and to shoot guns for real. The five kilos I had gained for Rang Rasiya was quickly lost."

How did Nandana, with her arty tag, bag such a hardcore masala film?

"I'm not very good at lobbying for roles. I just got a call from Tips. I think the director Kuki had seen and liked my work."

In spite of the daring stunts, Nandana didn't suffer any major injuries.

"But in 'Rang Rasiya' where I've no stunts I got a broken rib while dancing. And I caught fire also. I'm no stranger to mishaps. I'm quite clumsy in real life; so I'm used to calamities. And my threshold for pain is quite high. Yes, the heavy mobike did fall on me and my shoulder got hurt. But I continued shooting."

After the action stint in Cape Town, Nandana feels less vulnerable as a woman.

"I'm very much a girlie girl. But all this physical action really changed my body language and psychological approach to crowded places. The combat training really helped ... Now I feel less vulnerable in crowds," she said.

Now Nandana returns to Cape Town again to shoot Vicky Chopra's Seasons Greetings.

"I play this really fun character. I haven't done comedy before. It's quite a far cry from my role in the film with Viveik. There I was speeding across skyscrapers. Here hopefully audiences will be falling off their chairs watching my comic act."