Darling, did you dive?

Chennai, June 22: If Ram cut Raavan to size once, a reluctant Balram has done so now.

M.S. Balram, a former national diving champion, has told the media that it was he and not Abhishek Bachchan who made the 90-foot dive into a waterfall in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan, which released last Friday to big crowds only to see the footfall dip.

Abhishek had gone on TV claiming that he went ahead with the dive despite being warned that his insurance wouldn’t cover the stunt.

Contacted by The Telegraph, the Bangalore-based Balram said he doubled for Abhishek — and for Vikram in the film’s Tamil version — after a couple of rehearsals in December 2008 at the Hogenakkal Falls on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. But he didn’t want to get dragged into a controversy as it would mean involving big names like Ratnam and the Bachchans.

“I have already said what I wanted to, so please don’t get me into further controversy,” the 30-year-old, now a swimming coach in Bangalore, said. While Vikram has not made any claim to making the dive, Abhishek told PTI he had done it though his director tried to dissuade him. Then, on Sunday, appearing with wife and co-star Aishwarya on CNN-IBN, he told the channel that the people who handled his insurance had also warned him against going ahead.

“Then I saw these kids, as young as five years old, just taking off from that cliff and diving without the slightest tinge of fear. So I decided to do it,” he said.

He also said he told his wife about the dive only after the scene had been shot and that she was thrilled.

A member of Madras Talkies, Ratnam’s company which produced the film, said it was Balram who was filmed making the dive on behalf of the two heroes at the falls, which some call the “Niagara of India”.

“That is why he has been given credit as the body double for both Abhishek and Vikram in the rolling credits at the end of the film,” he said.

Balram’s brother Bhushan said the former champ made the same dive in 2003 while visiting the Hogenakkal Falls with the senior national swimming team. So it was no great challenge for him to repeat it for the movie.

Despite the heart-stopping dive, the Hindi version of the film hasn’t made a splash.

“The numbers were high the first weekend, but since Monday, the takers for Raavan have dropped considerably. There will be very few shows in the second week,” said an official at Calcutta multiplex Fame.

“I have to bear with my flops and then also with everyone’s flops because whenever whoever’s flop comes, they invariably compare it with Aag,” tweeted filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma. “For Tashan they said it’s Aditya ki Aag. For Chandni Chowk they said Akshay ki Aag. For Kites they said Hrithik ki Aag and now its Mani ki Aag.”

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said the “major flaw” with Raavan was the lack of a “credible” script. “I also felt that Abhishek Bachchan was a misfit in the role of Raavan. He isn’t a mature enough actor to carry off a powerful role like that.”

Vikram, however, has been praised for playing the same role with elan in the Tamil version.

Amitabh Bachchan has said the best parts of his son’s role have been edited out and the 10 facets of the 10-headed Raavan have not been conveyed properly.