Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 3, 2018)

On Sunday, filmmaker Ayan Mukerji and his Brahmastra leads, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, arrived in Israel for a recce of their upcoming action-adventure. Set in modern-day India, the first film in a potential trilogy revolves around wisdom and powers drawn from ancient Indian culture and will be shot in the old city of Jaffa and Jerusalem, as also parts in the neighbouring country of Jordan. Shooting kicks off this February with Amitabh Bachchan also featuring in the cast.

The trio brought in New Year’s Eve at a club in Tel Aviv before getting down to work with Israeli fitness trainer and movement coach Ido Portal (right), who is training Ranbir to get the body posture right for his superhero turn and for some important action sequences too. Ido, who is trained in different martial arts, dance forms, gymnastics, acrobatics, among other physical disciplines, is working with an approach that blends aspects from each form into an exploration of the ability and limits of movement, which will feature in the film.

Last year, Ayan, Alia and RK had met in London to begin prep, which was followed by periodic narrations and workshops with Ido in Mumbai. “Ranbir and Ayan are incredibly gifted. In a culture of superstardom, big productions and money, they impress me with their humanity, love and care,” the trainer said.

While Ranbir has headlined all of his filmmaker friend’s directorials —Wake Up Sid and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani — the duo has welcomed the new cast member with open arms. The trio has been exploring hip party destinations on Rotschild Boulevard and Alia, while interacting