Ganapath marks a few firsts for Kriti Sanon. The film sees her taking a stab at an actioner for the first time. With the joy of shouldering a heavy-duty action movie, comes the responsibility of being stunt-ready. The actor, who began shooting for Ganapath late last year, says she was introduced to French contrast training as part of her prep. “In this film, I am supposed to look like a warrior who [is adept] at action. I started doing French contrast training. It’s a form of strength training that helps you build muscle,” says Sanon, who began working with trainer Karan Sahani for the project.

Sanon may be athletic, but the rigorous training required some getting used to. She elaborates, “Here, you do a heavy set of weights, and immediately follow it up with an explosive move. So, I am doing heavy squats with a weighted bar. When I finish it, I follow it up with six jump squats.”

Slipping into the femme fatale avatar for Vikas Bahl’s directorial venture has been an exciting endeavour for her as she matched co-star Tiger Shroff, stunt for stunt, in front of the camera. “I have not been into sports [since childhood]. Sometimes, I wish I had trained in [martial arts] as a child like Tiger did because he picks up things faster. It gets harder to learn the skills as grown-ups because our body is not used to it. There is a particular weapon that my character uses in the film. It was exciting to [undergo] weapon training, do kickboxing and beat up so many men on screen.”

Fitness had always been a crucial part of Sanon’s lifestyle, but she realised its importance when she piled on 15 kilos for Mimi (2021). After the film was wrapped up in 2020, she had the arduous task of dropping kilos without the aid of a gym, during the first lockdown.

“I began working out at home with the help of virtual trainers. I lost all the excess weight during the lockdown. When I was 15 kilos more than my usual body weight towards the end of Mimi’s schedule, I remember feeling unfit. When you feel so unfit, you understand the importance of fitness.”