MYSURU: Bollywood star
Akshay Kumar, who spent six hours in the core areas of
Bandipur Tiger Reserve
with
wildlife show
host
Bear Grylls on Thursday, had high praise for it.
He took time out to interact with forest personnel and lauded their efforts in conserving wildlife.
"If forests are alive, humans are alive," the actor told BTR director T Balachandra.
The forest was in the news for the past three days as three celebrities - Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Bear Grylls - were shooting for a popular wildlife programme.
"There was a rope cross over Moolehole River and Akshay Kumar checked out parts of Tiger Road in the core area of Bandipur and Rampura elephant camp. They also shot near an old railway track and a bridge. Akshay got into the river with Grylls during the shoot," a forest official said.
While Grylls left around 3pm for Gundlupet from where he took a chopper to Bengaluru, Akshay left Bandipur forest around 4pm.
Balachandra told TOI that all the three said they had never experienced a forest tour like in Bandipur. Rajinikanth was nostalgic about the place where he had shot a Kannada movie with Vishnurvardhan over 40 years ago.
Akshay has given a call to conserve wildlife and this means a lot to us, the director said, adding that Bear Grylls told them that the forest is untouched with different species of trees unlike in some forests which have only a few kinds of trees.
'Friend of India' Soon after leaving Bandipur, Bear Grylls tweeted: "Always proud to be a friend of India."
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.