He’s known for his nimble footwork, but in his Tamil film with Santhosh Jayakumar, Prabhudheva will be playing a physically challenged person who uses a prosthetic leg. “That was one of the reasons why Prabhudheva was hooked to the script,” says the director, who released the first-look poster of the action entertainer, titled Poikkal Kuthirai, recently. He explains, “He plays Kathiravan, a physically challenged person, a doting father, who is forced to face a tough situation. It’s a difficult situation to handle even for a normal man, and his physical disability doubles the challenge for this character.”

Santhosh reveals that Prabhudheva has been practising walking with the prosthetic leg since June. “We are using a prosthetic leg for his character, and so, he had to learn how to walk using that. First, he started training by tying up one leg, and using a walker and a stand. Then, we fixed the prosthetic leg and he’d walk with that. It was quite tough to achieve balance and there were times when he would fall down,” says the director, adding, “We got in touch with an international company which makes prosthetic limbs for athletes to understand the process of fixing the leg, walking with it and removing it. We visited their office and the professionals there taught Prabhudheva how to walk, climb and even stop walking with the prosthetic leg. He started training in mid-June and practices even now, before and after shoot, during breaks and even when he is at home. He has totally nailed the character.”

The film, which also stars Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Raiza Wilson, and Prakash Raj among others, is 50 per cent complete. “We will resume shoot in a few days in Chennai,” he informs.