Gulshan Devaiah on how he learned MMA for Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, months after his knee surgery
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 24, 2019)

Having cherished his experience of working with Vasan Bala on Peddlers, Gulshan Devaiah was certain he had to be part of the filmmaker’s next, Mard Ko Dard Nahi hota.

The actor, who plays a martial arts expert in the satire, says he came on board the Abhimanyu Dassani starrer despite having undergone a knee cap reconstructive surgery not too long ago. “I had to pick up karate for the role. It was hard because I had no martial arts background. I would practice six days a week for four months before we began rolling,” says Devaiah, adding that the strenuous nature of the martial art put his knee at risk.

“Since I had undergone surgery only months before, I had to ask the makers to cut down on the prep. I would be practicing my karate moves on one hand, and on the other hand, my physiotherapist was working on me, too.”

The actor admits that shooting the action sequences wasn’t without its share of difficulties. “I would have cramps and spasms. I constantly suffered from lower back pain. It was frustrating. There were times when Vasan sir wasn’t sure if I could pull this off.”

The joy of working with Bala aside, Devaiah says the film introduced him to his latest passion. “I enjoyed boxing a lot, which I picked up during the film. It was my wife’s idea to make me join MMA. It resonated with me physically and mentally.”

Following some power-packed performances, the actor was laid low after a skiing accident and is re-starting his career from scratch
Shravan Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 13, 2018)

Gulshan Deviah grabbed eyeballs with Bejoy Nambiar’s 2011 thriller, Shaitan, and went on to headline the coming-of-age adult comedy Hunterrr four years later as the bumbling Mandar Ponkse. Life was on a roll for the 39-year-old actor when he went to Kashmir to bring in his wedding anniversary on February 12, 2017. The following day, Gulshan was skiing on the snow-capped slopes of Gulmarg when he took a tumble that resulted in a broken knee, and he was to be confined to the bed for the next eight months.

Reminiscing about the unfortunate accident, the actor says, “I was just a beginner, on a 4.5 km run at 10,000 feet. The previous day I had done seven runs from 10 am to 4 pm, and even though I fell a few times I didn’t hurt myself. On February 13, I continued from where I had left off. After three runs I was exhausted but since I was feeling good, I decided to do one more before taking a break. After a kilometre I swerved to the left and my ski got stuck in the snow. The next thing I remember, I’m flying through the air.”

Usually the ski opens out when something like this happens, but in Gulshan’s case, his right knee twisted and snapped. “I knew something bad had happened as a shooting pain felled me,” he narrates, recalling his trainer and wife Kallirroi Tziafeta panicking as they watched him try to stand and topple over because of his knee.

Even as he was hoping it would turn out to be just a sprain; the actor was rushed to the local dispensary in a sledge and, with the help of pain killers, survived the night. “The swelling was so bad that even going to the bathroom was difficult. The doctors told me that the medial and lateral ligaments had been severely damaged and my anterior ligament was blown. I would have to undergo surgery but they needed to rehabilitate my leg first for three weeks by putting it in a straight brace which I could only take off while having a bath. I could barely walk,” he recalls.

After three weeks, Gulshan went into surgery and post-op couldn’t bend his knee even at 15 degree but the pain was gone. “The doctor said I was one in a thousand cases when it came to pain tolerance. I guess I had prepped myself well,” he slants a wry smile, going on to inform that the doctors had used a tendon to replace the ligament which, being much harder, usually needs a year to become more flexible. “After two months, the doctor assured me that my leg was healing well but I was out of work for eight months. I had to drop a couple of films and turn down two I might have done, along with several other offers. In the meantime I only focused on my physiotherapy. At times I would even over-train and then the doctor would tell me off,” he smiles.

Finally, Gulshan is back on his feet with Vasan Bala’s romcom Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota, which introduces Abhimanyu Dassani and Radhika Madan. “The physical training I had to undergo was a challenge as my leg was broken then. This is the only film I am doing and we should wrap it up by early March. It’s almost like re-starting my career from scratch after eight months of being out of action,” he signs off with a smile.