‘‘Stunt bikers? Oh... those trouble-makers?’’ Ghost Ryderz has been hearing the comment for long. That used to hurt, but not any more. The Ryderz has grown from being just a group of biking fanatics who used to meet up on Museum premises to go on jolly-good rides to different locations of the city to the number one professional stunt riding team in the country.
From being just a community on Orkut (which won them fans who then gave them the cue to christen themselves Ghost Ryderz, inspired by the movie ‘Ghost Rider’), Ghost Ryderz is now a name to reckon with. The profile now reads: top four stunt riders in the country as members in the total strength of 70, 50 live shows across India, shooting for three big budget movies in the South, promos for two seasons of MTV Pulsar Stunt Mania (the stunt reality show), TV ad for Bajaj and performing with Chris Pfeiffer, World Stunt Riding Champion, who came to India on a five-city tour organised by Red Bull.
Kickstart
‘‘Riding was a passion and we had little idea about stunt riding,’’ says Mikhil Mohan, the team organiser, and one among the founders of the team. Mikhil, Suraj Panikkar (team coordinator), Jiji Philip (team moderator) and Viswanath have been there from the start, ie 2006. Though the membership dwindled as many went in search of jobs, in mid 2007, the rides re-started. And Mikhil’s brother Akhil Mohan, a Plus II student and the official cameraman, changed their portfolio. ‘‘He shot a video of our regular rides and posted them on the YouTube.’’ Enquiries came pouring in and they became serious about stunt riding.
First Gear
They started from the scratch, tried mastering braking techniques, wheelies and stoppies.‘‘We learnt it all by trial and error. When we contacted stunt riders in Mumbai and Pune (the so-called ‘stunting’ capital of India) for advice, we were turned away,’’ says Mikhil. The irony is, they now want to join Ghost Ryderz! It was Sreekanth Rajan, a member, who picked up the skill first. Well, he is the current number four in India and number one in Kerala.
Second Gear
Akhil went on posting more videos on YouTube and the fifth one hit bull’s eye. They got their first booking from Amar Jyothi College of Engineering. Rs 6,000 was the offer. More bookings followed, earnings also went up. The response has had much to do with the quality of the video. Akhil shoots the stunts, editing is done by Indrajith Ramesh, the current team moderator. An animation buff, Indrajith is film-maker Viji Thampy’s relative and his assistant for the last six years.
Top Gear
The sixth video (February 2009) changed their destiny. First came the call from the best stunt riders in the country, Senthil Kumar and his younger brother Abhishek, from Chennai. ‘‘ They wanted to get exposure and so contacted us. Abhishek is currently the number one in India, Senthil is ranked second. Abhishek is awesome. He has developed the stunts on his own,’’ Mikhil says.
Second, there came an invitation from MTV. ‘‘We were chosen to perform prior to the auditions of Stunt Mania. They wanted the best stunts and we took it as a challenge,’’ Mikhil says. Five of them- Abhishek, Senthil, Mikhil, Sreekanth and Indrajith- thrilled crowds at Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh and even judged the contestants.
Full Throttle
MTV beckoned them again, this time for the Pulsar MTV Stuntmaniacs ad. Mikhil, Senthil, Lotus and Saravana (ranked number three in India) shot for the ad, currently being aired by many channels. Then came Season 2 of the reality show-Pulsar MTV Stunt Mania Rockathon. It had a nine-city tour, to Shillong, Bhopal, Delhi, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata.
Catching up with Chris Pfeiffer in Hyderabad has been the big moment, all thanks to MTV and Bajaj. They not only opened his show, but also performed with him. ‘‘He was thoroughly impressed,’’ the team says with pride.
Come September, Ghost Ryderz would kickstart a 20-city tour across India, promoting the Rockathon. They will also be making some record-breaking attempts, like the maximum distance covered on wheelie.
A Super Jump
A call to do stunts for ‘Enthiran’, Shankar’s mega budget Rajnikant-starrer, was a surprise. Abhishek got the invitation from Peter Haynes, the stunt master, since the latter’s assistant had seen Abhishek perform. Mikhil, Senthil and Saravana too joined him to shoot a five-day action sequence, that too with Rajnikant. ‘‘A very down-to-earth, humble person,’’ they say of the superstar. They have also shot for Mahesh Babu’s Telugu movie ‘Killadi’ and another Tamil flick starring Jeeva, in addition to the recent television ad for Bajaj Pulsar.
Ghost Ryderz has a customisation wing too, which is handled by Suraj, Rakesh and Jiji (Log on to www.thegrz.com or contact 9895141759). Don’t be taken aback if you happen to come across names like Neo, Phenon, Brutus, Dauntless or Damboy on the site. Actually, the members address each other by their nicknames.
The Bumps
‘‘You fall and learn’’. There is no member without a cut or bruise. Mikhil had to be on bed for around six months altogether and Indrajith is walking around with a steel rod in one arm and two artificial teeth. ‘‘While the family of some members don’t know even now about what we are doing, those who know are quite supportive of the venture so far we move around with safety gear,’’ says the team.
The Thrills
Freestyle has four main categories (each with many variations), ie wheelies, stoppies, burnouts and acrobatics. Of this, wheelies is important since it has the maximum number of variations, like Basic, Half Old School, Footpeg, High Chair, Seat Stander, No Hander, Circle, 12 O Clock etc. Stoppies include Basic, Rolling, One Hander, Spreader etc. Burnouts has variations like Rolling, Chainsaw, Suicide, Switch Back and Rocket. Christ, Skitch and Human Compass form the Acrobatics.
m_athira@expressbuzz.com
