Kangana credits fitness coach for drastic physical makeovers for roles

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut credits her fitness coach Yogesh Bhateja for the transformation she acquires for various roles.

"We have been working together for a few years now, we have done many transformations together -- the Cannes look, Panga, Thalaivi and now Dhaakad. My characters are very demanding, which he understands well and makes the plan according to the requirement of the script. He knows when to exert and when to hold back and, of course, never fails to get results," Kangana said.

For her recent films, Kangana underwent drastic transformation from gaining weight for Thalaivi and shedding the extra kilos for the action film Dhaakad.

Talking about the journey of Dhaakad, Bhateja said: "It has always been a roller coaster ride, as every character had its own specifications whether it was about looking strong and sturdy in Panga, getting size zero figure for Cannes, gaining 20 kilos for Thalaivi or dropping all those extra kilos and getting a sharp and masculine look for Dhaakad. Kangana is very focused, always ready to learn new exercises, a fast learner and fun to train with."

"For Dhaakad, we got very little time to prepare but I must say she took it very sportingly and with full dedication though I gave her a very hard time in the toughest fitness regime," he shared, adding: "She has been enthusiastically performing, I planned the whole routine by keeping the movie perspective in mind as it has got lot of action sequences so I incorporated multiple forms of training exercises like plyometrics, weight training, animal flow and yoga asanas in it to make her more functionally efficient and injury-free."

Thalaivi is a biopic of late Tamil politician J. Jayalalithaa. The bilingual film will trace the journey of the late leader from silver screen to politics. It is directed by AL Vijay, and also stars Arvind Swami, Prakash Raj, Madhoo and Bhagyashree.

Dhaakad is a spy thriller in which Kangana will play the role of Agent Agni, while Arjun Rampal will be seen as the antagonist. Arjun's character is named Rudraveer. The film is directed by Razneesh Razy Ghai, and slated to release on October 1, 2021.