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Abhishek Chauhan is receiving appreciation for his role in Lakshya-Raghav Juyal starrer Kill. The actor is known for his work in Asur, Bahut Hua Samman and Andekhi. Abhishek, in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, speaks about his physical training for Kill, love for action and more. Excerpts from the interview. (Also read: No other language remakes for Kill in the works; clarifies Dharma about Lakshya, Raghav Juyal-starrer)
Abhishek Chauhan on playing a commando in Kill
When asked if he feels content about his work in Kill, as his character gets equal importance as Lakshya and Raghav Juyal, Abhishek says, “I feel every movie would have a different scope for an actor. But for me because I hadn’t attempted action earlier and never played a commando, I had a lot on my plate already. So, for me to get into that body while performing all those action sequences and to get into that psyche of that character, there were a lot of takeaways for me. I felt that the script threw a lot of challenges at me in terms of how it was written. Even with the goons, every character has a scope to shine because of how it’s written.”
Abhishek Chauhan’s physical prep work for Kill
Abhishek participated in workshops with Lakshya and received physical training to portray an NSG commando. He also portrayed a negative character in Asura. When asked about the preparation for these two projects, he explains, “The workshops that Lakshya and I were doing together were mostly based on the agenda where the idea was to form better relationships, understand each other and develop that bond, how Amrit and Viresh (Lakshya and Abhishek’s characters in Kill) are. And we went to Manik Sir at NSG headquarters to see how they are. It was more of an insight into how their psyche is, their training, how their bodies are and the way they look. We also had somebody who was an ex-NSG and ex-army officer who would sit with us and tell us about the psyche and his experiences. So, we were doing – the workshops to develop our interpersonal relationships in order to look like buddies on-screen.”
Abhishek further says, “When you talk about the prep work for Asur it was different. With Kill it was a lot different as here I had to work on my body and then get into a psyche and develop a relationship. In Asur, my character had already been established in the previous season. However, in the new season, there is a leap of about ten years for my character. To bridge that gap, I imagined what must have happened during those ten years based on the information provided in the script. The director also shared his vision for the character, which influenced my preparation. Additionally, for Asur, I spent some time in Rishikesh and studied the antithesis of the Gita, delving deeply into the process.”
Abhishek Chauhan on physical challenges as an actor
When asked about the most challenging aspect of working on Kill, Abhishek opines, “I feel the most challenging part was just being physically there because the amount of action required, you have to be fit enough to be able to do that. So, we were training for action at least six hours a day, apart from that I was also working out. When we went to the sets, we did multiple rehearsals. First thing is to get that body language and choreography correct so that your body knows how to punch and kick and then to bring in emotions and not think about how your choreography is. Because by the time you have done it so many times it is already in your body. So, that has been the most challenging thing to approach and that is why it was fun.”
Abhishek Chauhan praises Akshay Kumar’s action
Abhishek has previously admitted about working in Kill as he always wanted to be part of an action film. While speaking about his favourite actors who have aced action, he says, “As a child when I used to watch action I used to believe in it. There are a lot of people like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan to even Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan in India. All these people have done such great action. For me, movies are a medium of telling stories, and as long as you buy into it, you love it. Keanu Reeves and Jason Statham have also done fantastic action.”
Abhishek Chauhan on revisiting action genre in future
When asked which other genres and aspects of action he would like to explore, the Kill actor states, “It’s all about the story, setting and how it is being told. I am open to filming any kind of action movie. Action can be a part of any genre, whether it’s a romantic film, a superhero story like Brahmastra, or a sci-fi movie. So, when you talk about action, I want to do all kinds of it. But what I explored in Kill, that is the only kind of action I have done till now. So, I really enjoyed it and I would like to do something like Kill in the near future.”
Abhishek Chauhan reacts to ‘glamourising violence’
When asked about his perspective on ‘glamourising violence’ in film and of he has any parameters as an actor while selecting scripts depicting violence, he says, “As an actor, the script is given to me once I succeed in the audition. When I have the script and I am preparing for the role, often the producer, director, writer and everyone else involved spend a lot of time on it. They know the story much better. They already know whether it is good or not. Additionally, there is a censor board, like ‘Kill’ has an A certificate. So, we know that children are not watching it in the theaters. When I read something, I read it as a story. If I like the character and want to be apart of that story, then I will give it my 100%. I mean I can’t be in a project and be like ‘action to bohot zyada ho raha hai (the action is too much).’ Else, I won’t be a part of something like that altogether.”
Kill is directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat and backed by Karan Johar and Guneet Monga.
