After film prep, actress resumes horse-riding lessons as a hobby
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 20, 2017)

When Kangana Ranaut picked up horse-riding in April as part of her prep for her turn as the titular warrior queen in Manikarnika – The Queen of Jhansi, little did the actress know that her association with the sport would go beyond the big screen. Mirror has learnt that Kangana resumed her horse-riding lessons in the early hours of Tuesday at South Mumbai’s Amateur Rider’s Club, of which she is a member. She intends to take up the sport as a hobby after her period drama wraps up.

According to a source she is keen to continue her training. “Out of the 50 days allotted to the filming of action sequences, Kangana has completed around 20 in Hyderabad and will soon resume shoot. She has decided to learn new skills in her free time,” adds the source.

Kangana is training with the club’s president, Suresh Tapuriah, who raves over the fact that she is a confident rider and an expert at controlling her horse. “Her seat is also good and she is now adept at trotting, cantering, galloping (three stages of horse-riding) which she does fearlessly, sometimes without stirrups. I keep telling people that riding is a science in the beginning but after some time it becomes an art; an art of communicating with an animal which is ten times stronger than you,” says Suresh.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 4, 2017)

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 11, 2017)

Jacqueline Fernandez, who admits she loves taking up challenges, enrolled for horseriding lessons at the Mahalaxmi race course last year. Her trainer, Suresh Tapuriah, is proud of his new student who has been consistently showing up for classes despite her hectic shooting schedules and is close to completing a year under his guidance.

“Jacqueline has been busy travelling but whenever she finds time she loves being with the horses. She has enrolled as a member of the club and devotes a lot of time to the sport. She even helps promote it among her colleagues and friends. She usually trains for half an hour a day, twice or thrice a week. We have fixed training periods as the horses get tired after 30 minutes,” Suresh told Mirror, recalling when Jackie’s Reload co-star Sidharth Malhotra had tagged along for one of the classes. “Sidharth enjoyed the riding lesson but I guess most actors don’t have the time to pursue training. Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Jackie Shroff are the few who are members of the club.”

According to the ace trainer, Jacqueline’s favourite horse is Golondrina, brought down from Argentina. “She is a well-trained horse and perfect for beginners”, Tapuriah says.

Jackie will skip some classes as she’s now in London for a 40-day schedule of David Dhawan’s Judwaa 2, also features Varun Dhawan and Taapsee Pannu.

The 30-year-old actress has kicked off prep for her Rani of Jhansi turn, taking riding lessons at Mahalaxmi race course
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 6, 2017)


Kangana Ranaut, who plays the warrior queen of Jhansi in her next film, Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi, is taking riding lessons from Suresh Tapuriah, who has previously trained actors like Jacqueline Fernandez, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon.

A source told Mirror, “On Wednesday, director Krish met Suresh and explained the kind of training the role requires. Kangana will learn how to gallop sedately, as also ride hard with the reins in her mouth and swords in both hands. She has to learn all this in a month’s time as the film kicks off towards the end of May.”

By Suresh’s account Kangana is a fast learner. “She is progressing well but has to accomplish a lot in a short period so I had a meeting with her director to get the brief right. Among other things, he also told me that she might have some scenes of bareback riding which is riding without a saddle.

It’s difficult in a short period of time but we hope to achieve it. We train together for 30 minutes a day at the Mahalaxmi race course amateur riders club. Kangana has already done about four rides with me,” the trainer told Mirror.