Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 31, 2016)

Kunal Kapoor who plays a Kalaripayattu warrior in Jayaraj’s trilingual period drama, Veeram, set in 13th century Kerala, reveals that it would take him nearly four hours to get ready for the shoot. “Trefor Proud, who has worked on over 50 films and TV shows, including Gladiator, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, The Gospel of John, Ender’s Game and Topsy-Turvy which bagged him an Oscar has designed my look for the film. Four other guys who have specialised in the make up for a Kalari martial artist before he goes out to battle also helped. I’d wake up at 4 am and tune into heavy metal music to do away with sleep as I sat through makeup,” informs Kunal.

He also trained for five months before the shoot, putting on twelve-and-a-half kgs of muscles to look like a warrior who is intimidating but not too bulked up. Kunal broke his workout schedule into three parts of 20-minutes each. The first was scheduled in the morning, the next at noon and the final one after pack up, as they used to shoot 17-18 hours. “We filmed some parts in Thiruvananthapuram and Agra and the major portions in the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. I created a temporary gym there with some weights, big lamps and a bunch of chairs,” he reminisces.

The 39-year-old actor also spent three months learning Kalaripayattu and got weapon training as well with traditional swords and the urumi (a sword with a flexible whip-like blade). The biggest challenge was filming in Hindi, English and Malayalam simultaneously. “Malayalam was tough and minor nuances in the performance would change depending on the language,” he points out.

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 11, 2016)

Mirror (January 5) was the first to report about Kunal Kapoor's next, Jayaraj's trilingual Veeram, which is set in 13th century Kerala and revolves around the martial art form of Kalaripayattu.

Now, Mirror has learnt that the six-time National award-winning filmmaker has roped in four renowned Hollywood technicians --action choreographer Allan Poppleton (Hunger Games, Avatar and Lord of the Rings fame), Oscar-winning make-up artist Trefor Proud, composer Jeff Rona (Phantom) and colourist Jeff Olm (Monsters vs Aliens, Titanic and Spiderman).

According to Jayaraj, Allan spent two months at various Kalaripayattu centres to understand its nuances. "Allan researched under the aegis of teachers like Siva Kumar Gurukkal of CVN Kalari in Kollam and incorporated his own styles to fit the camera angles," says the Malayalam director, adding that he wanted to strike a chord between the art form's traditional essence and its contemporary depiction. "The idea was to sharpen the storytelling as well as capture the audience's interest by bringing a western perspective on board."

Trefor's prep included extensive research spanning several months too. "The costumes represent the ones worn by warriors in the 13th century South India. They would also use body paint and colourful tattoos to look more ferocious. Incidentally, the colours bear a striking resemblance to the ones incorporated in many dance forms in Kerala, including Kathakali," Jayaraj explains. Meanwhile, the film's soundtrack is an orchestral combination of traditional Maratha folk music with some new elements.

Kunal who has shot for some high-octane action sequences was accompanied by a personal trainer throughout the shoot. "He had to build muscle in order to lend a sense of ferocious grandeur to his onscreen personality as an ancient warrior. At the same time, he had to be agile and flexible enough to practice Kalari in the film," Jayaraj signs off.