Gordon Liu and Deepika Padukone in Chandni Chowk to China

We didn’t know him as Gordon Liu in those days but rooted for him as the underdog trying to become a kung fu expert by passing through the 36 chambers of Shaolin. In fact, his character San Te introduced kung fu to a lot more Indians, glued to the reruns of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and its sequels on Doordarshan than Bruce Lee ever did. Many years later when he was seen as Johnny Mo in Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Pai Mei in Kill Bill Vol. 2, it was a complete delight for the fans of Master Killer, Gordon’s most popular nickname. Now with Chandni Chowk to China, Gordon’s a Bollywood villain. t2 spoke to the legend about being the sinister Hojo and his off-screen antics with Akshay and Deepika...

We have grown up watching The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Are you aware of your fan base in India?

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is one of my favourite movies. It was a huge box-office success in Hong Kong and overseas. It also had a great impact on the Chinese martial arts movie genre on the whole. I feel excited and overwhelmed by the enthusiastic support from the Indian audiences about The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.

Were you aware of Bollywood films before Chandni Chowk to China? How do you look upon the industry?

Bollywood is the largest film production industry in India and one of the largest in the world. Bollywood films are mostly musicals, the plots have tended to be melodramatic and they are also multi-million dollar productions .

But have you seen any Bollywood movie?

Of course! I love Singh is Kinng, in which Akshay Kumar starred as Happy Singh. Akshay gave me this disc as a present.

Did you know about the superstardom of Akshay Kumar before shooting for CC2C?

Akshay Kumar is a very talented actor... he has starred in different kinds of movies playing different characters...He can be romantic, funny, heroic, he can dance and sing very well. He is a nice and charming person and very professional. It was a great pleasure for me to work with him. What I liked most about Akshay is that he is such a humble person even though so popular and famous. What I don’t like about him is that he is too good to be true (laughs)! Just kidding! There is nothing I do not like about him.

And what about Deepika, with whom you have a lot of scenes?

She became a friend as well. Akki and Deepika called me “Gordon” on the sets. Gordon is my English name... all of my friends like to call me Gordon. (His Chinese name is Liu Jia Hui.)

You have no make-up at all in Chandni Chowk to China... as if you are just being yourself. How different is Hojo from Gordon Liu?

Well, Hojo is a big boss in the Triad Society. He is vicious and unscrupulous, whereas I am against violence and just want a simple peaceful life. Moreover, the main difference between Hojo and me is that I love music and I am very artistic!

So are you ready to do a musical film in Bollywood?

Yes. Akshay has promised to teach me dancing... I am looking forward to dancing with him. Maybe I will get the chance to act in one of the Bollywood musicals in the future!

Which was your most memorable scene in Chandni Chowk to China?

That scene on the Great Wall of China is very memorable. In the movie, I carry out an act of personal revenge against Akshay’s teacher when I was young. When Akshay grows up, he swears vengeance because of what I have done to his teacher. Therefore, we end up fighting on the Great Wall. Now it’s not easy shooting there. The Great Wall is made mostly by stamping earth and gravel between board frames. It has very steep slopes and the average height ranges between five and eight metres. Can you imagine how you would feel if you had to fight on top of these walls against the howling wind? It was thrilling for me and I am sure it will take everyone’s breath away.