Vijay Deverakonda is currently promoting his upcoming film ‘Liger’ which marks his Bollywood debut. In the film, he plays a UFC fighter for which he had done immense work out to maintain his chiselled body. In a recent interview, Vijay’s fitness coach Kuldep Sethi shared his insights into the Telugu star workout scheduled to get that ripped body and look convincing to play a fighter.
In an interaction with IndianExpress, Kuldep Sethi said, “In December 2019, Vijay signed Liger with Puri sir, and we discussed his role and he shared specifics about his character. Puri sir too discussed Vijay’s look and told me that he is a UFC fighter, so his body had to look a certain way. If I combine the lockdown period and the ups and down through the way, then we worked together for this over two years, otherwise it would have taken around six months to achieve and maintain his physique for the for the film.”
He further added giving insight into the actor’s fitness regime, “Vijay’s personality is such that we had to work on his lower body and his forearms the most, we didn’t want his arms and chest to be too bulky like a body builder. A fighter’s body is very different from that of a bodybuilder, he is lot like an athlete. UFC fighters are leaner, not bulky, we had to carve his body according to his weight category and his personality, given all that he had to be more athletic. There was a lockdown after we started working together. So we had to keep working out through the lockdown as he would have otherwise lost the look we had achieved. We used to workout at his home.”
The trainer continued by saying that they did a lot of mobility exercises which help keep the body flexible. The ‘World Famous Lover’ actor was practising kickboxing. He was also on a high-nutrition diet as he had a lot of physical and emotional pressure. And to cope with that kind of pressure he was required to eat nutritious meals which helps to recover from the wear and tear much faster.
Speaking about how the ‘Dear Comrade’ actor was trained for the fight sequences with Mike Tyson, who is a former professional boxer and he is in great shape even at the age of 56. Sethi says, “He has fight sequences with Mike Tyson, who is a legend. He was in a very good shape when we were shooting. Puri sir planned fight sequences in such a way that we had a lot of time to prepare Vijay mentally and physically. When you’re in your best shape, you are mentally confident while doing certain things. So, he was very confident towards the end of our programme. He is in the best shape of his life. While doing the film he was looking good, he was too ripped and his energy was at par with any international athlete. Vijay almost worked for it in a way that he could become one in real life too.”
Talking about the film ‘Liger’, his character has difficulty in speaking and stammers. This is a sports drama with a stellar cast including Vijay, Ananya Panday, Ramya Krishnan and Mike Tyson. This film also marks the Bollywood debut of Mike Tyson. The magnum opus is directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by Dharma Productions. The film is slated to release on August 25, 2022, pan India.
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