As told to Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 2, 2017)

I enjoy all kinds of sports, though I have to admit that my interest in cricket is far less than my love for badminton and football. When I was offered Sohail Khan's Freaky Ali I was really excited as it offered me the opportunity to learn golf. I started training last year, for around a month-and-half or two before I began shooting. I would tee off at the Chembur Golf Club and later, at a golf course in Gurgaon. More than the game, my objective was to convincingly adapt the body language and the posture of a golfer on screen to make the performance believable. That took a while, but gradually I got a hang of it. To start with, I would practice for an hour or two to get into the rhythm. That increased to a five hour session every day. My trainer, Sidharth, is a really good golfer and guided me well. Initially, I would make small mistakes. Once I lost my hold on the club and it flew straight towards my coach. Thankfully he wasn't hurt.

One thing I quickly realised while practicing is that one has to be completely focused while playing golf. If you begin your day well, the game progresses smoothly. But if you goof up right at the beginning, the day goes for toss. Calm and concentration are most important for a good game of golf.

It was difficult to learn certain shots like the 'drive' (where the initial shot on a hole is intended to move the ball a distance, usually more than 225 yards). But now it has become one of my favourite shots. There were many young golfers in the Gurgaon golf club who would watch me play, share tips and tricks with me. But they would all try to teach me the game in their own style, which would confuse me further.


There were times when I would wonder if I would ever be able to play as well as them. Around that time, I used to follow professional golfer Aditi Ashok's game. She is the first and only Indian golfer who has played the Asian Youth Games (2013), Youth Olympic Games (2014), Asian Games (2014) and Olympic Games (2016). She is an inspiring role model.

On the set of Freaky Ali, all of us, including Arbaaz (Khan) bhai, were hooked and everyone had their favourite shots. We would pick up our clubs and start playing during breaks. I must admit that golf is an addictive game. I still have all the clubs and even now, whenever time permits, I head to a golf course along with two of my friends.

I would love to do a biopic on a sports personality. But my only problem with them is that we often tend to commercialize such films with songs and other masala. I am not comfortable with that. If I ever get an opportunity to do a pure biopic I will be happy to be a part of it. And then my golf lessons will really come in handy.

I have worked very hard on Nandita Das's upcoming film, Manto, which is a biopic on playwright, and author Saadat Hasan Manto. His command on his language was incredible and I worked a lot on my Urdu. We don't speak pure Urdu so to grasp the rhythm of that language was difficult.

After hours of practice I finally got the pronunciation and flow right. Fortunately I have read Urdu before, so I could study by myself. I had to deliver a 10-page speech in Urdu in the film and rehearsed at least 50 times a day before I gave the final shot.

My command over Urdu has definitely improved since and I have truly enjoyed the learning process.