When production house Yash Raj Films approached Robin Behl to help Sharvari prep for their spy film, the brief was simple: She needed to look sexy, and strong. Knowledge around fitness science may be available in abundance, but Behl admits that the notion that strong women inevitably acquire a masculine physique, is still propagated. Sharvari, however, had spent enough time under the barbell to know that the claims had no merit.

“She had to be extremely fit because she was set to pull off many action sequences both with and without weapons. Since she was already undergoing action training for three hours, my job was to cater to the aesthetics. So, of course, strength training became a major component of our routine, but, because she needed to look athletic, I didn’t want her body to appear stiff on screen.”

In a bid to “introduce fluidity in her movements”, Behl included handstands, body-weight exercises, and mobility drills into her routine. Often, they’d indulge in a bout of boxing.

“All of this ensured that while she stayed active, her range of motion wasn’t compromised. This relates to both physical and mental [agility]. When you introduce something different into your regimen, you force your nervous system to adapt. If you continue to do the same movements, [the mind] stops learning. Of course, we had to repeat movements to help her build strength in certain muscles, but we had to also switch them often to keep her [at the edge]. This was also essential given the role that she was playing,” he says of the actor, who pairs up with Alia Bhatt for the film titled Alpha, and touted as the production house’s first female-led espionage thriller of the spy universe.

Behl has previously been credited for enabling Adarsh Gourav prep for the role of a fitness trainer in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023). And while the trainer had opined that he was getting the actor physically ready for the film, he was amused to see his mannerisms unfold on screen when the movie released.

“I noticed that Adarsh had also picked up [nuances], like the way I walked or spoke, and it was interesting to see that.” Having seen Gourav at work, he wanted to expose Sharvari to a similar situation—one where she could experience, first-hand, how athletes move.

“That’s why I took her to meet my teacher, Carl Varel, who is Asia’s number six Brazilian Jiu Jitsu [expert]. I wanted her to experience the grappling, clinching and take-downs [associated with the sport], and see how they move.”

Sharvari’s training involved a whole lot of everything. “We did a lot of running bouts with her. But, instead of asking her to run at one pace for a long time, we included variations, like [interval training]. To improve her adaptability, we made her run bouts that varied from two to six kilometres. Often, we’d run in the heat at noon, or early in the day at 6 am. Strength training was included. She’s incredible with her pushing movements and could execute push-ups and parallel bar dips. Gradually, we started introducing a lot of balancing work into her routine. Because I have prior experience with forms like Kung Fu, we’d have her train with sticks. The idea was to make her comfortable with how [an athlete] moves, and to build familiarity with the choreography. I am a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so, I added that into her regimen because combat will be involved in her scenes.” 

A major chunk of his sessions with Sharvari may have concluded, but Behl still seems to be in awe of her ability to meet his challenges. Ask him if she found it tough to keep up with the day-long training sessions and he says, “I found it tough to keep up with her.”

“She wouldn’t stop. After a one-hour-20-minute routine, when I am wrapping up, she’d ask me what’s next. She’d walk in saying she had two hours to train, and I’d have to tell her that I did not. Usually, I take a while to acquaint myself with an actor’s abilities in the gym, but, with her, we could pick up the pace in as little as two weeks. It was due to that effort that she could shave off nine per cent of body fat [in five months].”