Actor Sidharth Malhotra says that Indians have lost respect for environment and should learn how New Zealanders keep their's clean.
"I think in terms of learning from them (New Zealanders) and their society, which we actually had but somewhat lost, is the respect for our environment, forest and the animals that we have," Sidharth told IANS during a car ride on the Auckland streets.
Sidharth, the Tourism New Zealand brand ambassador in India, is on his second trip to the country and he is mesmerised by the scenic beauty of the country again.
Talking about how Indians have slowly lost the respect for the nature, he said: "We should be the first and pioneer in doing that because we worship trees, animals so we do have it our culture. But I think somewhere we have lost it. When I come to a country like New Zealand, I feel great to see them take out so much time and effort in taking care of nature."
"We have somewhere lost that appreciation for our environment and animals because, of course, there are other conditions. We are struggling with other economic problems and people in general have those issues. But I think this is very fascinating to see somewhere else in the world," added the 31-year-old, who plans to own a house with garden in Mumbai soon.
For Sidharth, the Penguin Discovery Experience at Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium here was by far his closest meet with penguins. He also underwent a Maori makeover followed by jet boating with his friends here.
Kayaking within sight of the country's youngest volcanic cone was a "wonderful experience" for Sidharth. After that, he also enjoyed a scenic view while on a seaplane and cruise at Auckland.
The actor credits his role as an ambassador and believes for how it has helped him, and says that all the activities here have helped him combat many of his fears.
"It has helped a lot. Definitely just the experience of jumping of a plane was supercool. Now I can do heights as well, as my last trip involved sky walk and that was superb. All this helped in convincing my director that I can do that. It definitely helped my action movies," Sidharth said.
The actor is currently shooting an action film with Jacqueline Fernandez, but the title of the movie is yet undecided.
And he says that he himself has done most of the action scenes without using body double.
"The current film I am shooting in, most of the stunts are done by me. Bet it coming from 50 storey building or riding bike or doing hand to hand combat or jumping or breaking through a glass. I believe it makes it more real, believable and I like it."
"I think it's a young boy's dream kind of thing to do all cool action himself. I think it's fun, experiencing all of these in New Zealand here helps you and makes you think what all you can do or what you can't," he said.
(The writer's trip is at the invitation of Tourism New Zealand. Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)
--IANS
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