He adores Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan as much as he loves Indian curries. As his latest flick The Hard Corps gets set to hit the theatres, Jean Claude Van Damme reveals his plans to produce a Bollywood film very soon.
What brings you to IIFA?
I've been to an Indian cinema awards ceremony in the United States before. I like Indian films a lot because they are so different than any other films made anywhere in the world. These films are visually so powerful. There's so much of variety -you have dancing, singing, so much of emotion, so many people in the background ... all of them dancing at the same time together. It is really amazing!
Have you seen any Hindi films?
Yes. I have been planning to produce a Hindi film with a friend and so requested him to lend me a movie. I saw Devadas with Shah Rukh and Aishwarya.
Would you like to act in a Hindi film?
I would love to work in it but I am not sure if I can emote like Shah Rukh did in the climax. I will need a director to advise me through the shots because I am trained in martial arts and can do those sequences much more easily. In the climax, when the leaves are flying and Devadas is dying, I didn't see a man in it. I saw a soul dying. It was so soul-stirring a shot and there was so much of sorrow in it.
How did martial arts happen to you?
As a kid I was a very thin and physically weak. So my father (points out to Eugene Van Varenberg who is sitting in the same room) decided to introduce me to Shotokan Karate and slowly I trained my body. And because of my physical frame, I became famous. I like to train and I feel good about it.
You have a reputation for numerous nude appearances. So what's your sexiest asset?
I think it's my body. What do you think it is?
I guess it's your butt.
Yes, of course. You see in one of the episodes of Friends I have said that I can crack a walnut with my butt. (Laughs). I am still young at 45 and like to keep my body looking good.
Which co-star have you enjoyed fighting on-screen the most?
I guess most of them. It's always good to have action people to fight in movies because there is so much of pressure doing those scenes and they understand it very well. Right now, I am so calm but when I go to shoot action sequences, I need extra power within me.
Do you believe that clothes maketh a man?
Clothes help to present a man. A friend of mine had once said to me that in my movies, if in the first scene I am into the character, it is going to be the first impression that will register with people. My father keeps scolding me that I am very careless about dressing up. Outside of my reel life, I am in track pants and in a simple T-shirt - and the T-shirt may have holes in it.
What is it about India that really attracts you? Is it films or food or the diversity?
I think it's all of this and there's something else. I have noticed that when Indian people listen to me, they don't look into your eyes, they look into your soul, deep inside you. Probably it is because they are very spiritual people. I find it very hard to lie to Indian people and I am not joking. They have those amber eyes that can see through me like an X-ray machine. I think I relate with Indians because they find some element of sincerity and truth about almost everything.
What about Indian cuisine? Do you like curries?
Oh, I just love spicy Indian food. My friend Ashok Amritraj has invited me to his house so many times and treated me with curries and other things. I don't recollect the names of the delicacies but whatever I have eaten was simply amazing.
