Director Gowtam Tinnanuri explains why Shahid Kapoor would need time to get back into the physical form required to play a cricketer in the sports drama
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; July 10, 2020)

Now in the unlock phase, filmmakers and actors have been busy chalking out plans to restart the shoot of the films that had to be halted, owing to the pandemic. But it’s not just getting on the film set that they have to contend with. For some films, where actors have to undergo a certain amount of physical transformation, the task at hand is far more challenging. One such project is Jersey, which has Shahid Kapoor playing a cricketer. The movie, a remake of a Telugu film of the same name, was underway in Chandigarh when the Coronavirus outbreak forced the makers to stop work even before the lockdown was implemented.

Gowtam Tinnanuri, director of the film, who also helmed the original, says, “Now, there is a cap on the number of crew members who can be present on a film set. Whenever the government allows us to increase the number, following the health situation in the country, we would need about four weeks to be on floors. As for Shahid, he would need at least two weeks of cricket practice before we begin the shoot to get back into the groove. He is a good cricketer, so we have less to worry on that front.”

Elaborating on why Shahid will require some prep before he stars shooting, fitness coach Rajiv Mehra says, “Both, Shahid and I, feel that we need at least seven to 10 days of practisc before the shoot starts again. We have to ensure that he doesn’t sustain any injury while practising or shooting. We have to help his body adapt to a certain level of activity, build strength and brush up his cricket skills. It’s a very delicate situation to be in because now we will be working against a tight deadline.”

Fitness coach Rajiv Mehra explains how he helped both actors transform into pros
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 22, 2020)

After signing the official remake of Nani’s Telugu hit, Jersey, Shahid Kapoor started training in cricket with fitness coach Rajiv Mehra. The three-month program predominantly involved improving the actor’s batting skills. “Shahid was the typical gully cricket player who never got a chance to go professional. His character in the film is a first-class batsman who should have played for India. So, naturally, we couldn’t have an amateur-looking batsman on screen,” explains Rajiv, adding that they worked on correcting Shahid’s basic technique and style of playing different strokes. “We needed a flamboyant batsman to lend some authenticity to his aggressive shots.”

Point out that Indian cricket has seen several aggressive batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli, and Rajiv insists that they didn’t have a reference point to work with. “This is a fictional character with a body language of his own. The only aim was to be a good batsman,” he explains, adding that Shahid’s diet and fitness regimen during the prep was as grueling as that of a professional sportsperson.

The fitness expert, who has previously worked with Ranveer Singh and team for Kabir Khan’s upcoming directorial ’83, informs that Shahid would practice three hours a day on a turf in Mumbai with focus on cover drives, sweep and hook shots, straight drive and even the big sixes. “It was a daily practice of 200 strokes of each shot. Shahid had some understanding of the game as he played cricket in his childhood. We went for 75 per cent perfection and allowed a bit of a leeway so there would be some uniqueness to his batting style,” he explains.

While the film, helmed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, who also directed the Telugu original, went on the floors in December last year, the cricketing portions were shot last month. “Jersey takes a 12-year leap. So, we needed Shahid to play two different cricketers in one film. We started with the older version of his character, who is 36. Now, we will switch to the younger track,” informs Rajiv.

And how has it been different coaching two Bollywood contemporaries in close succession? “Ranveer was a complete beginner; he had not played cricket at all. For him, the challenge was not only to learn the game but also imbibe Kapil Dev’s style. Both Shahid and Ranveer are amazing students of the game. They did a lot of research by themselves, too,” Rajiv raves.

How Ranveer Singh and his team transformed into sportsmen within a year
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 9, 2019)

After getting Ranveer Singh to play Kapil Dev in his next directorial, ’83, in September 2017, Kabir Khan got cracking on the script and pre-production. Simultaneously, the film’s ensemble cast was sweating it out on the field to hone their cricketing skills and to grasp the nuances of their respective characters.

Rajiv Mehra, fitness consultant and assistant to Balwinder Sandhu, former cricketer who was a part of the 1983 World Cup winning team and coached the film’s cast, reveals that the training sessions kicked off in August last year. “Everyone was aware about their characters but getting the technique right was our responsibility. We had to train them to become their characters physically,” Rajiv informs.

Individual training plans were prepared for the reel squad of Ranveer, Harrdy Sandhu, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Saqib Saleem, Ammy Virk, Jiiva, Sahil Khattar, Chirag Patil, Adinath Kothare, Dhairya Karwa, Dinker Sharma, Jatin Sarna, Nishant Dahiya, and R Badree based on their grasping power and skills. “The biggest challenge was to get them to think like cricketers. After that, we had to tone their bodies to look like that of sportsmen, for which we taught them sprinting techniques and gave body language training. After that came basic batting and bowling lessons,” Rajiv explains, adding, “It was like teaching kids, as we had to start from the basics.”

He goes on to reveal that the makers didn’t want anything to look mediocre on screen. “The actors represent legends of cricket. For example, Tahir can’t have sloppy batting skills because he is playing Sunil Gavaskar. We had to look for perfection in technique and physical appearance,” Rajiv explains, adding that Ranveer joined training in October last year with average batting skills. “But his bowling left us scratching our heads.”

However, it was the 34-yearold actor’s dedication that made him overcome shortcomings. “Ranveer, with the boys, would be at the ground from 8 am till noon, continuing to practice even after others had left,” he informs. The actor, who had started work on the film soon after his last release, Simmba, was “a little heavy at 86 kg”. “’83 demanded him to be around 75 kg. So, in the second half of the day, he’d train with me at the gym, ending with swimming, for four months.” Then, there was a niggle in Ranveer’s knee, making it difficult to run fast. To combat it, the fitness team prepared a rehab plan.

In April, Rajiv accompanied the squad of the Sajid Nadiadwala, Madhu Mantena, Shibasish Sarkar and Vishu Induri production for a bonding exercise in Dharamshala. The objective was to get a hang of playing in a real cricket stadium. “Kabir sir wanted to check camera angles and different kinds of shots, so there were mock shoots as well. We practiced twice a day, with mornings reserved for skill development and evenings for strength-training,” he reveals.

In June, the film went on the floors in London with a threemonth schedule and was wrapped up on Monday in Mumbai. At the end of the almost year-long journey, Rajiv believes the actors have become professionals in the game. “If you do screen mirroring, things will look exactly like the 1983 World Cup and that’s the USP of this film,” Rajiv signs off.

Cricket coach Balvinder Singh Sandhu and team on the physical prep that the cast of Ranveer Singh's sports film is undergoing
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; May 1, 2019)

In the midst of a merciful break that had punctuated their practice session, cast members of Kabir Khan's '83 were summoned by coach Balvinder Singh Sandhu to witness what a ball, hurled at 90 miles per hour, looked like. "I set the bowling machine at the speed and got them to see what that pace looked like. Watching the balls being shot like bullets, they were taken aback. Those were the balls that we [1983 cricket team] faced. They realised the [importance] of portraying people who played to that pace, and were then further determined to up their [act]," says the former cricketer, who has been mentoring the cast for eight months.


Whipping Singh into shape
Then fresh off the shoot of his cop drama, Simmba, leading man Ranveer Singh was way too muscular and heavy to play the quick-footed Kapil Dev. At about 12 kilos more than desired, he had to shed the extra weight, up his lean muscle mass and stamina, and simultaneously participate in sports-specific training that cricket demanded. "When a bowler jumps and lands, there's a back-foot and front-foot impact. To bowl like Kapil, he needed strong legs. We started working on his glute muscles, along with isolated leg-strengthening exercises," says Sandhu (top; left), as fitness trainer Rajiv Mehra (top; right) adds that glute strength plays a vital role in preventing injuries. "When the glutes fire during bowling, the muscles around the hips and knees don't take the load. This helps us keep them injury-free," he says.

Coupling their goal of achieving weight loss and enhancing his bowling skills, the duo says a major chunk of his cardiovascular activity was achieved when training on the field. "The groundwork includes a lot of running. We'd begin with a structured warm-up, focusing on technique, and hip, ankle and shoulder mobility exercises. There would be different drills incorporated to suit a cricketer. These included 20 to 30 metre striding, lateral shuffles, step overruns, and also replicating catches. Executing them while paying attention to technique was also challenging. The more Ranveer bowled, the more his muscle-memory developed. On a bad day, he'd bowl 70 to 80 balls. On a good day, it was 150." Given Singh's affection for swimming, a sport least likely to cause injuries, the actor was also put on a regimen accordingly.



Addressing troubled spots
Strength endurance training that includes executing lesser reps of lighter weights helped the team achieve a two-fold effect - It helped Singh reduce the bulk he had acquired for Simmba, and also become agile and faster. "His upper body had to be strengthened to protect the load being put on it. He had tight lat muscles, which needed to be addressed. We began working on his rotator cuff muscles to improve the strength he'd require to bowl. He has been training regularly over the past four weeks. As his fitness level is improving, it is reflecting in his ability to execute the required bowling action," Sandhu says.

Making him Kapil Dev
With years of experience in training professional athletes, Sandhu and Mehra knew that the task at hand with the cast of '83 was different. Here, their performance on the field didn't matter as much as their ability to ape the players. "Ranveer has a 45-minute bowling component incorporated into his routine and must copy Kapil. We'd take his video from two angles and show him how his hands were moving. We had to then draw parallels with Kapil's movements, and make adjustments accordingly. When he first came, he struggled to bowl. He's not a fast bowler, and we had to make him one of the greatest fast-bowlers we've had. When I saw him bowl for the first time, I said it would be tough." But Singh's drive for perfection has almost become synonymous with the man himself. "When he comes in, others up their [game]. He's full of energy and makes us work harder. If I would have rated him three on 10 at the start, I'd say he's up to an eight now. I knew batting wouldn't be a concern when he played his first pull shot. But, like with all players, we worked on making him mimic the original cricketer."

Building a team
A recently concluded 10-day Dharamshala session was conducted to enable the assorted actors to work together as a team. "Cricketers including Kapil, Madan Lal, Mohinder Amarnath, and Yashpal Sharma came and shared their experiences. That trip made the 14 players a team. They were keen to practice in the world's most beautiful stadium. During the bus rides, Ranveer would start singing, while others would join in. We had many beautiful singers. Then there would be some stand-up comedy [acts]. We achieved more than expected," Sandhu says.

Keeping niggles at bay
Physiotherapist Vaibhav Patil's (right) job began way before the actors complained of injuries. "Our aim was to prevent injuries. These actors had to mimic legends whose actions were unique. There's a lot of change that their bodies had to undergo. Apart from matching the cricketer's size, they had to ace movements that may be at odds with their own natural movement." To keep injuries at bay, Patil began with a screening session that enabled his team to identify each actor's physical follies. "If you know someone has a weak hamstring before the prep, it means that they would be prone to hamstring injuries later. So, from the onset, we'd train that muscle. Ranveer has a shoulder injury from Padmaavat. In the past, he has had surgery, and a labral tear. So we had to address his needs accordingly with the use of thera-bands and form rolling. Whether or not any actor encountered pain, he had to follow a therapy plan that was catered to his individual needs."

Therapy sessions also facilitated specific action. "For instance, Ballu sir would highlight a particular action that he needed of Ranveer that was not emerging. So, I'd design workouts to make that easier for him."

Kabir Khan’s cricket team arrives in Dharamshala for the last leg of their training before the sports drama kicks off on May 15 in London with a 100-day schedule
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 3, 2019)

After their stint in Mumbai, Kabir Khan and his boys, led by ‘captain’ Ranveer Singh, arrived in Dharamshala on Tuesday to continue with their cricket training and bonding session in the picturesque setting. They will begin shooting from May 15 in London and Scotland in a 100-day schedule.

“It’s a cricket boot camp at the beautiful Kangra stadium up in the mountains. We will live together and train like a cricket team for the next 10 days. Many of the players from the original squad will also be here to train the actors,” Kabir told Mirror from Himachal.

A source from the team adds that while former fast bowler Balvinder Singh Sandhu is the coach of the onscreen team, fitness coach and former Mumbai Under-19 cricketer Rajiv Mehra has also joined as trainer. Ranveer will be spending time with Kapil Dev whose role he essays in the sports drama before the film goes to Lords. “Besides Kapil paaji’s distinctive mannerisms, Ranveer also wants to perfect his trademark outswinger before shoot kicks off. His training is a combination of cricketing skills and training with physical conditioning,” informs a source close to the development of the Madhu Mantena, Vishnu Induri and Kabir Khan production.

Sandhu had recently told Mirror (March 25) that Ranveer has been putting in extra effort to get into character, practising his cricketing shots for two hours every day. The team had been training every morning from 7 am to 10 am in Mumbai.

’83 is based on India’s 1983 cricket World Cup victory with Pankaj Tripathi as PR Man Singh, the team’s manager. Other actors in the film include Saqib Saleem, Chirag Patil, Harrdy Sandhu, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Adinath Kothare. 

Zabaan Sambhalke, in which Tanaaz Irani's character was struggling with her Hindi, now has husband Bakhtiyar doing the same in the reboot
Anju Maskeri (MID-DAY; August 19, 2018)

In 1993, when actor Tanaaz Irani made her television debut as the big haired Jennifer Jones in Zabaan Sambhalke, her husband Bakhtiyar was a student of Std 8. The show, inspired by British comedy Mind Your Language, was about a harried Hindi teacher portrayed by Pankaj Kapur, a hapless bunch of students and their attempts at navigating the mazes of the Hindi language.

"While watching the show, I hadn't in my wildest thoughts, imagined that I would go on to marry one of the students," says Irani, when we meet the couple at a suburban mall. We have intercepted their Pateti shopping plans, but the duo is more than happy to talk about the show that is so special to them.

Back to the classroom
The popular Doordarshan sitcom, which ran from 1993 to 1998, is now set for a reboot as a webseries. Directed by its original maker Rajiv Mehra, it will see a fresh cast with Sumeet Raghavan essaying Kapoor's role, and the students will be played by Irani, Ashwin Mushran, Rupali Bhosle and Meenakshi Chand. "I had auditioned for two characters; one was a Dubai Sheikh and the other a Parsi. Having lived in the Middle East for several years, I could mimic their mannerisms well," he says. But as fate would have it, Irani will play a quirky character from his own community. "But unlike me, he's a bit too flirtatious, almost a lech," he says. "In television you are forced to tone it down. Here, you can say things as is. Expect a lot naughtiness, double entendre and gaalis," he says. For the role, Irani had to shave off the facial fuzz and take off the multiple ear piercings. "I had to look chikna. It feels weirdly naked to be without a beard," he says.

Earlier this year, his wife Tanaaz received a call from director Mehra informing her about the show. "I was confident that he wanted to cast me once again. But when he said he wanted Bakhtiyar and not me, I did a double take. I almost begged him to take me back," laughs Tanaaz. Back then, she was a young 22-year-old theatre actor from South Mumbai with little ambition of making a foray into television or films. It was through producer Viveck Vaswani, also her co-actor in the show that she bagged the role. "He had seen me in the play Bottoms Up and thought I would fit in well with the character of an Anglicised girl struggling with Hindi. And I did because I didn't have to try hard to be bad at Hindi. I was that bad!" she laughs.

Developing friendships
Tanaaz, who was familiar with most of the actors of Zabaan Sambhalke courtesy her theatre stint, believes it was their easy off-screen equation that worked onscreen. "We would all get food from home – I'd get mutton biryani – and then sit together and eat," she recalls. Bakhtiyar, however, is still breaking ice with his co-actors. "During the original series, there were no cellphones or social media. Nowadays, once the shoot is done, people go back to their phones. You don't talk as much," he says.

But once the camera rolls on, the atmosphere is akin to a classroom under Mehra's watchful eyes. While there is discipline, there are also jokes to lighten the moments. "I remember they would keep putting pencils in my hair and I would never know. Also, nobody wanted to sit behind me because my huge mop would overshadow them," she says. Kapur, she recalls, was like a teacher. "He was strict and he commanded respect. I was made to stand outside the class for real many times for my pranks," she laughs.

Three of the original cast members are no more, including Tom Alter. "When we were told that they are pulling the plug on the show, I cried and so did Kapur. We had become family," she says. Tanaaz is yet to see the rushes of the new show. "I can't wait to watch. It's like life has come a full circle."