It may sound filmy but it is a fact. During the shoot of Shootout At Wadala, John Abraham turned out to be a saviour for Sophie Choudry not just in reel but in real life too. “While the film’s anthem Aala Re Aala was being shot, Sophie was to dance on the bonnet of a moving truck. She nearly slipped while doing so. Luckily for her, John was standing on the bonnet of the truck that was opposite, and immediately came into action. He held her before she could fall over and injure herself,” informs a source.

Interestingly, director Sanjay Gupta has retained the shot in the song and while it may seem like a rehearsed outing, it is actually a one-take shot, more coincidence than design. “In any case Sophie hardly got time to do any rehearsals for the song,” the source states. “She was finalized a few days before the shoot. As Sanjay and Sophie have worked together in the unreleased ‘Alibaug‘, the filmmaker felt that she was the perfect choice for the song and dance routine, which is set in a ‘dhabha’. She was thrilled to step in but wanted time to rehearse.

But as time was in short supply, the rehearsals and practice was done on the sets itself.” Moreover choreographer Ahmed Khan’s moves weren’t easy, what with Sophie hardly finding her feet on the ground. She found herself on table tops, bar tops and bonnet tops! In fact Ahmed is even believed to have joked to Sophie, “This time I won’t let you remain grounded!” “No wonder, she slipped,” quips the source. “Other than Malaika Arora dancing on the top of a train bogie to Chaiyya Chaiyya, Sophie is the only one to be finding a mean machine as her accomplice, and that too a truck bonnet no less.”