Upala KBR (DNA; April 13, 2017)

Kunal Gir has been shuttling between Hyderabad and Mumbai, training Ranbir Kapoor for two films — Ayan Mukerji’s Dragon and the Sanjay Dutt biopic directed by Rajkumar Hirani. The biopic director recently invited the celebrity trainer to his sets to oversee the gym shots. Dutt is a known gym addict and Hirani wanted to get the scenes perfectly done.

Confirms Gir, “Ranbir had mentioned to me well in advance that he would like to have me on the sets on the day those scenes get shot to ensure that his physique looked great. I was happy to oblige. I landed in Mumbai a night before the shoot date to make last minute diet changes, so Ranbir looked good the next day. We drove to the sets together.”

He continues, “RK went in for his make-up, while I checked out the gym setup. It was more like a shed that was actually an old gym. The setup was ideal. New-age equipment was quickly moved out for the sake of authenticity. Ranbir introduced me to ace cameraman Ravi Varman, who also hails from the South. A humble, extremely talented guy and he was open to ideas from me. Raju Sir arrived soon after. We had met a couple of times before. I quickly learned that both these people — Varman and Hirani had no egos. It was all about getting the best shot each time. If that meant, consulting with Ranbir’s coach, so be it.”

RK also took inputs from Gir on what to wear for the scenes. He reveals. “We shot a total of eight scenes total. Before each scene, I was asked to show what movement will be done, where and what kind of angles I would prefer. Next, Varman took over and made sure the camera angles, lights, etc, were set just right. He would then show it to me and check if it looked fine. Then Ranbir came and shot for it!”

Time flew by without him realising he had missed his 3 pm flight back to Hyderabad. “Before I knew it, it was 3.30 pm. We had started at 9 am, shot non-stop with just water breaks, while the scenes were getting set. I took a flight at 5 pm back, while Ranbir and the unit continued to shoot till 10 pm. Now that’s hard work. I can’t wait to see how the scenes look on the big screen,” concludes Gir.