Sudeep buffs up for ‘Pailwaan’
Kannada film is also releasing in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam
One who fights to prove his strength is a rowdy; One who fights for a strong cause is a warrior.” So opens the trailer of Kannada film Pailwaan.
And when the cause is led by Sudeep — an established performer in Kannada cinema and beyond — the message will ring loud and clear.
Set in a rural ambience, Pailwaan follows the life of Krishna, an orphan raised by a veteran wrestler. Making the story interesting is Suniel Shetty, who makes his Kannada cinema debut with the film.
He plays Sarkar, a former wrestler and Krishna’s guardian and mentor.
Krishna’s ambition is to fulfil Sarkar’s
dream of becoming a national wrestling champion. When he is all set to enter the nationals, a turn of dramatic events force him to quit wrestling.
Rebuilding his life again, Krishna gets another opportunity to get back into sports. This time it’s boxing and Krishna champions the dreams of the less privileged
In an exclusive interview with tabloid!, Sudeep talked about his preparation for
Pailwaan, where he plays the lead. Juggling between shoots in Mumbai for Dabangg 3 and promotional events in Bengaluru for his upcoming film Pailwaan and with a chest congestion, it had not been an easy week for Kannada star Sudeep.
When we finally catch up over the telephone, Sudeep looked back on that evening, two years ago, when director Krishna narrated the story of Pailwaan.
“I did not take it seriously initially and was hassled as I was in no shape to do the film,” recalled Sudeep who weighed 89kg then. “I rejected it first but a week later I called him to check how serious he was about doing it. The script was good and I thought sometimes we need to do certain experiments.”
A tough regimen lay ahead. Sudeep’s daily schedule meant waking up at four in the morning and hitting the gym for an hour-and-a-half. After a 10-minute power nap in the vanity van, he would report to work by 7am.
In the evenings after packing up, Sudeep headed to the swimming pool for 45 minutes of training. Hitting the bed by 8.30pm was easy.
This exercise plan coupled with a strict diet that said an absolute ‘no’ to salt and sugar helped bring down Sudeep’s weight to 77kg over the next four months.
“You must lose a lot of water,” added Sudeep, who still abides by the same regimen but takes small liberties with food. “I taste small portions or a bite of something. Workouts and exercise has become a habit now and I feel good.”
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
On the sets, professional wrestlers trained him. Hollywood’s Larnel Stovall came down for the boxing sequences.
“It was strenuous being new to the sport and since I was starting from scratch. The training was to meet the requirements of the film and not for actual
wrestling and boxing. I did not want my scenes to look amateurish on screen but must convince the audience,” he said.
His character Krishna goes through two different arcs in Pailwaan.“It was not difficult to crack the emotions,” said Sudeep who has been in the industry for 23 years. “We are in touch with all kinds of emotions in life. Anything that comes innocently and spontaneously will connect with the audience.”
Once a film is done, he steps out of his character easily. “I have never had any hangover of a role,” he added.
Referring to Shetty as anna (older brother), Sudeep spoke of the close bond he shared with him.
“Anna commands respect and is disciplined, humble and genuine. Since we connect well in life, working on screen was easy,” he said.
Making movies, he said, always feels like home.
“It is just the way I love my family. No matter where we travel we love coming back home. That’s how I feel about cinema. I don’t know anything else apart from cinema. Acting excites me. Every morning I still wake up with great enthusiasm to work. The day that ceases, I have to rethink,” he said.
“I don’t know anything else apart from cinema. Acting excites me. Every morning I still wake up with great enthusiasm to work.” SUDEEP | Actor