In a gripping scene in Sujoy Ghosh’s Jaane Jaan, Vijay Varma and Jaideep Ahlawat take on each other at a martial arts class. The physical fight symbolizes the battle of wits between Varma’s cop character Karan and Ahlawat’s Math teacher character Naren in the murder thriller. Varma, who describes himself as a “couch-friendly guy”, says that he had to undergo a two-month training in martial arts to be able to pull off the sequence.

“Two of the toughest scenes for me were my opening [fight] sequence, and the face-off with Jaideep. I had undergone immense training for these stunts. From being a couch-friendly guy to hitting the gym every morning, going for yoga retreats and following a strict diet, I altered my lifestyle for the film,” says the actor.

Since dropping on Netflix last week, the Kareena Kapoor Khan-led film has been receiving wide praise. It fulfilled Varma’s desire of seeing himself performing martial arts on screen.

“I’m glad the audiences have given Jaane Jaan so much love. I’ve always admired Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, and hoped I could perform stunts like them some day. This film made it possible.”

When adapting Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X for the screen, Ghosh saw Varma’s character as a charming cop. The director is impressed that the actor not only worked out rigorously to attain a lithe frame, but also picked up martial arts.

“We needed Vijay to be an athletic martial arts expert who is a police officer, but his superpower is his charm. He charms his way into everything. He had to portray physicality with intelligence because his character is sharp and focused. Vijay trained hard for [those sequences]. You cannot fake martial art moves. Everything shown is raw and real.”