Farhan Akhtar is one of those fine Bollywood actors who gives it his all for a role and he has done the same again for his upcoming sports drama film ‘Toofan’. In a recent video released by Amazon Prime, we can catch Akhtar toiling as hard as possible to not just act as a boxer but actually fight in the ring like a real one.
Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who has worked with Farhan earlier in ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ very well knew that as unique a sport as boxing it isn’t meant for everyone. To his knowledge Farhan was the best fit for the role, given his extreme level of dedication.
And so began the making of Aziz Ali – The Boxer. The training began on 1st November, 2019 with Drew Neal serving as the first boxing coach of Farhan. Neal was quite impressed with the way Farhan trained relentlessly hard, so much so that he was learning it all four times faster than any beginner boxer normally would. It took him roughly five to six months to learn the basics of boxing, it’s techniques and preparing physically for it.
And it wasn’t just that, while in the morning Farhan learnt boxing followed by a session with physio, Dr. Anand. The doctor would work on his sore muscles so that he could then be prepared for a strengthening session in the evening with fitness trainer Samir Jaura.
On 13th August, 2019 Farhan began a camp with fight coordinator/co-executive producer Darrell Foster along with other boxers. Foster was here to to teach Farhan how to take a punch and not fake one. Director Mehra had clearly briefed Darrell that when the shooting starts and the boxers enter the ring they should not be thinking about boxing but know it.
Darrell, who thinks of Farhan as a gifted, talented athlete, taught him how to roll with punch, bob and weave and break down the opponent. It was also an opportunity for Darrell to explain where most of the boxers come from and what goes in a ‘Warrior’s Mentality’. This was important as the character of Ajju is one who has to faces his adversity and come out of it like a warrior.
To make it more understandable and repeatable for the professional boxers, for whom it was difficult to follow a choreography, Darrell created a numbered language. And so it became not just a game of strength but also mind. The level of training of every boxer in the film was such that no stunt double has been used and every single one has lived their character.
Farhan, as described by Paresh Rawal who plays his onscreen coach in ‘Toofan’, has really owned the character with the kind of passion he has put into his training for the character of Ajju. And that shows during his training with pro boxers like Gagan Sharma, where Farhan didn’t hesitate in taking punches for real however fun and scary it was.
One of the highlights of his training was the way he learnt speedball like a pro. By the end one could easily see the technique, the rhythm and to top it all a swagger with the way he was owning it.
It was on 11th December, 2019 that the final fight was shot. It was the ultimate fight for which all those months of hard work was done. ‘Toofan’ like ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ offered Farhan to go through an immersive experience once again.
If you have been looking for a reason to watch ‘Toofan’ on Amazon Prime Video on 16th July then this video is all that you need 👇🏼
‘Toofan’ stars Farhan Akhtar, Mrunal Thakur, Paresh Rawal, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Hussain Dalal, Dr. Mohan Agashe and Darshan Kumar. The film has been produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Farhan Akhtar.