When pitted against the average man’s 50, Usain Bolt’s muscle composition includes 80 per cent fast-twitch fibres (sprinting facilitators), giving him an added advantage on the field. Swimmer Michael Phelps, on the other hand, apparently produces half the amount of lactic acid of a typical athlete, which implies that his muscles recover significantly faster than that of his competitors. Not negating the insurmountable toil that goes into their victories, genetic predisposition plays a crucial role in determining athletes’ success. Of course, celebrities imitating athletes for cinematic adaptations need not be sporting mavericks. Yet, surely some discussion on their tendencies to play a sport may make for discussion during the casting process.

Eshan Naqvi, one among Parineeti Chopra’s trainers for the upcoming film, Saina, says the actor’s “hand-to-eye-coordination” skills gave her an edge. Another factor that helped her learn the tropes of badminton was her training in kalaripayattu and yoga. “Flexibility is a key factor in badminton because the shuttle can move in any direction. A player should be able to move and twist accordingly — pull herself, and turn in any direction. We needed to build the kind of endurance that would aid her in this sport. The endurance you build as a runner doesn’t help you here, because it is [sports-specific],” says Naqvi, adding that footwork training was among the few things that Chopra was taught, early on in the process of readying her to play Saina Nehwal.

“Just like choreography in dance, badminton needs one to learn movements to conserve energy. An athlete must only take as many steps as is needed. Parineeti hasn’t played the sport before, so we had to build muscle endurance, and power, and teach her to focus on the shuttle.”

Given that he had only seven months to prepare the actor, Naqvi says he had to address different requirements, simultaneously. “We didn’t have time to indulge in the basics because there was a lot that she needed to learn. We were teaching her explosive work, because the higher that an athlete jumps and catches the shuttle, the more the advantage she has. We had to also cater to [advance] work at the same time. Sometimes, she would need to gather herself. When she was shooting in London for The Girl On The Train, she would wake up at 5 am to train. When she was unwell, and couldn’t run, we’d merely make her stand and hit the shuttle.” 

Shrikant Vad, president of the Thane Badminton Academy, and under whose watch Naqvi was training Chopra, spent 12 days with her at the academy. “We focused on service, footwork, and point of contact with the shuttle. We know how Saina serves — it is a famous [aspect of her game]. We would watch videos of Saina, and demonstrate [the movements] for her. We paid heed to how her elbow [moved], how she held the [racquet], and her swing. I tried to show her how a player can serve well, which is important in this game. Often, I would set targets, asking her to ensure she hit eight out of 10 shots at the right spot,” says Vad, adding that the job was particularly challenging given that Chopra had not had a brush with the sport. 

Chopra says the first advice she got from her trainers, and Nehwal, was to commence living like an athlete, before training like one. “Everything I ate was monitored. I ensured that I had enough carbohydrates, fats and protein in my diet to provide the required energy, and had an amazing set of nutritionists who catered to it. We wanted to make sure that I had enough stamina to play the game for 12 hours, as would be required when we began filming. Weight-loss was never the motive. In fact, body-wise, I was correct. I had to develop the muscles of my thigh, and target muscle groups that I never had, in the past.”

Agility training, and explosive movements, she says, formed the crux of her routine, as Naqvi adds that they took to light weight-lifting sessions as well. “The shuttle is the fastest-recorded [object] in sport, traveling at a speed of 400 km per hour. It takes a normal person four years to be ready to merely play a match, let alone [win a competition]. You need to be agile and execute fast movements, and hence, heavy weight-lifting is not an option. Parineeti’s routine was so vigorous that she would do 30 minutes of physiotherapy to make her core stronger.”

Chopra says her day would commence with meditation, before she jumped into a two-hour practice session. “On alternate days, my coach made me do strength training with a mix of cardio and machine work. I was excited to learn how to smash. Saina’s smashes are a class apart, and I would ask the team when I would learn it. I was taught how she places them, and the power she employs. It takes years to smash like she does.”

Chopra with Vad and Naqvi during the training sessions