Hyderabad: The Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra directorial Toofaan stars Farhan Akhtar as a boxer, alongside Mrunal Thakur, Paresh Rawal, Supriya Pathak Kapur and Hussain Dalal. Akhtar underwent intense training to prep for the role of Aziz Ali aka Ajju Bhai, a goon who goes on to become a national-level boxer, for his second film with director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, following another sports-based movie, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag in 2013.
To get into the skin of the character Farhan underwent rigorous training with a team comprising of a fitness trainer, boxing trainers and a physiotherapist who helped him in making his boxing journey real. In a video shared on Excel Movies' official YouTube channel, Farhan, Rakeysh, Ritesh Sidhwani, former world kickboxing champion Drew Neal, fight coordinator and co-executive producer Darrell Foster share how the team worked for months and reached a point where the actor found his rhythm in the boxing ring.
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READ | When Toofaan preparation tested Farhan Akhtar's mental strength
Sharing what went behind attaining the boxing skills, Farhan has said he "didn't train for the film but to be a boxer." Darrell also seconded the actor when he said that his task was to teach Farhan how to "take a punch and not fake a punch."
Earlier, the 47-year-old actor had said that the physical aspect of learning a new discipline like boxing was "very challenging", the preparation for which tested his mental strength to the point that he wanted to throw in the towel.
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Toofaan, produced by Akhtar and his work partner Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment and Mehra's ROMP Pictures, is slated to be released digitally on Amazon Prime Video on July 16.
