Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar brings on the punches in ‘Toofan’

Gulf News

Actor talks about pushing boundaries and testing limits as he turns pugilist in new film  Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3ehcZtY  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #Bollywood #FarhanAkhtar

Transcript

00:00I actually didn't want to get into the mindset of I have to look like a boxer. It wasn't that.

00:06I mean my mindset was that I have to be a boxer.

00:13You kind of root for the underdog. I think that's one of the best parts about any sporting

00:17drama. Are you the underdog here?

00:20Yeah, to a certain extent as far as life is concerned I am an underdog in it for sure.

00:25The character that I play and I completely agree with you. We've all grown up on a nice

00:31steady host of sporting films and sport based films and when done well they always have

00:38this amazing, amazing potential to inspire and motivate you.

00:42Apart from getting the physicality of it right like you have to look like a boxer perhaps

00:46and train hard but what about getting into the skin of the character?

00:49Yeah, you know I actually didn't want to get into the mindset of I have to look like a

00:53boxer. It wasn't that. I mean my mindset was that I have to be a boxer is what my mindset

01:01was. So, my training wasn't about just the physical aesthetic. My training really was

01:08about if I enter the ring and if I had to fight a match with someone, would I be able to do it?

01:13So, that's really what the training was and I worked with Drew Neal, an incredible boxing

01:18coach to start with and then of course Daryl Foster who came in later to further my training

01:26and to also do the choreography on the film and that was important to me you know to actually

01:33feel like when I enter the ring with people who are going to be in the ring with me who are

01:37boxers, I want them to know that they are up against an opponent who takes it as seriously as

01:42them you know and so that's really what was the exciting and the challenging part of the training.

01:49Did you think about it that this is something that requires you to be vulnerable?

01:55You know I mean all of us have vulnerabilities but when you go into the ring, that's not what

02:03you want to project at all you know. When you go into the ring, you want to project the fact

02:08that you belong there. You want to project the fact that actually this ring belongs to you and

02:13not to the other person who's dead to step in while you were there. Those are the things you

02:18project and that's again that's a mindset that you have to work towards and you need the right

02:26people to speak to you about the sport, get you to understand that it's a lot more than just the

02:32physical aspect of going in and beating someone up or getting beaten up. You have to fight

02:38through personal demons, you have to fight through the pain so to speak literally which is physical

02:44and mentally and emotionally to put yourself through that stuff and that's what as Darryl

02:50calls it he's like that's what creates the warrior's mentality you know is that no matter

02:55what the odds are, no matter how much the odds may be against you that you have the courage and the

03:00will to get up and fight and that's honestly what the intention was with the preparation in the school.

03:07How did this movie or working in this movie change you?

03:12Well, it has been a very personal experience. I also do feel I mean when you put yourself

03:17through the grind, it's very difficult to come out being exactly the same person you were before

03:23you know you will have evolved or metamorphosised into something new and something different

03:31so that's bound to happen. What the effects of it are I guess time will tell you know but

03:37like to draw parallel I think when I worked on the Milkha film which was again a very, very

03:43challenging film to me that film left me with a certain sense of self-belief which I mean

03:54obviously I feel is inherited from Milkha Ji you know that if you honestly throw yourself

04:02into your work or into towards achieving your goal and you're willing to work as hard as it

04:09takes you know with absolute sincerity and honesty of purpose because honesty of purpose is

04:15very, very important if you're willing to do that you will succeed, you will create some impact

04:24you know and that's what I learned from that film and actually that learning helped me in this film

04:28because when I knew I had to play a boxer I didn't have a question mark over my head

04:32like I did when I got into the Milkha training that will I be able to do it

04:36you know because I'd been through it and learning through the man himself and learning through his

04:42experience and learning through the experience of playing him I knew that if I just brought

04:49myself to that place where I'm going to do it honestly that it'll happen.

05:06you

Category

Transcript

Recommended