Soon after the onset of his Bollywood career in 2018, Aayush Sharma followed in his brother-in-law Salman Khan’s footsteps and diligently took to body-building. Having often flaunted his physical gains on social media over the years, the actor is now ready to showcase his athletic levels on the big screen with Ruslaan, which will see him pull off different styles of action.

Shot in picturesque locations in Azerbaijan, the film, we are told, will see the actor showcase seven different styles of action. “A lot of the sequences are larger than life,” the actor says, adding, “some are fast-paced, while others have a comic effect, akin to Jackie Chan’s style of [action]. There are some close-range combat fights that were filmed in one shot, and some involved close-range bullet fights as well that were filmed without any cuts,” says the actor, who underwent rigorous training in each style to deliver the required impact.

Even though advancements have enabled filmmakers to create environments conducive to the filming of stunts, Sharma endured a fair share of challenges. “This film has raw and gritty action. There was no body double [appointed], and neither were there any harnesses, so I had to do the stunts all by myself. I shot the lifts, throws, and punches without any safety mats. It was physically taxing, and I was dehydrated due to extreme weather conditions. There were a lot of body shots involved as well. But, when there is so much work that one puts in and things proceed smoothly, one feels gratified.”

Local as well as international action directors, we are told, created the choreography. “We had a local stunt coordinator from Azerbaijan who worked with us, and then there was Vikram [Dahiya], the lead action director of Indian descent, who served on the film. In a short span of time, he executed [sequences that were] unparalleled. When it comes to making action sequences, the Indian crew understands the palette of the audience.”