What went behind those daredevil Kalari stunts onscreen

Mollywood is gearing up for the return of the fabled vadakkan hero Chanthu Chekavar onscreen, with Bollywood actor Kunal Kapoor essaying the character in Jayaraj's Veeram. The actor has undergone several months of vigorous Kalaripayattu training to perfect his movements required for the role.
His Kollam-based trainer Shivakumar Gurukkal tells us, 'Kunal had many fight scenes so we specially trained him for those.To perfect his body language, we taught him some of the basic chuvadukal and vadivukal including gaja vadivu and simhavadivu.'
Kunal is the latest in the list of actors being trained in Kalaripayattu by Malayali gurukkals. Last year, after the release of Bajirao Mastani, Malayalis had more than one reason to be proud as the film's much-lauded action sequences showcased Kerala's own martial art Kalaripayattu, with the stars Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone being trained by Gurukkals from the State.
Over the years, even Hollywood stars such as Jackie Chan and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan were trained in Kalari for their films by them. Here's a lowdown on what went behind the screen to get the actors prepped for their roles:
Bajirao, Mastani learn kalari
Sunil Kumar, a Kalari exponent from Kozhikode, has choreographed Kalari sequences for more than 25 non-Malayalam movies including Asoka and Raavan. Bajirao Mastani is just the latest in the list. 'The film had a lot of action sequences, and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted perfection; so the sessions went on for almost a year in Mumbai. Both the actors were devoted to learning Kalari and even practised the craft when they were not shooting,' says Sunil, adding that his crew had travelled with the stars during the shoots in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Capsule kalari for celebs
According to martial art experts, mastering Kalari takes nearly a decade. For celebs, the Gurukkals devise crash courses based on the requirements of the script, explains G Sathyanarayanan, who has trained the likes of Jackie Chan, Mohanlal and Mammootty.
'We vet the scripts and then plan the training,' he explains. 'It is essential for the actors to develop the body language of a Kalari practitioner. So, we first teach them a bit of basic chuvadukal so they get the postures right to train for the action scenes,' he explains.
This was also the method used to train Jackie Chan for the Hollywood movie The Myth in 2004. Chan was apparently impressed with a video clip featuring Sathyan's Kalari performance and invited the Trivandrum-based master to act in the film as well as train the actor.
'I was in Shanghai for 30 days,' he says. 'We had limited time to train Chan. He was well-versed in martial arts such as kung fu and wing chun but they are totally different from Kalaripayattu. He, however, quickly learnt the moves. He is talented when it comes to delivering even a small move dramatically.'
Immortalising the warriors
Understanding the tradition goes a long way when it comes to performing Kalari on screen, says the trainers. Among the celebs Sathyan has trained, he was happiest working with Mohanlal, he says, in movies such as Thacholi Varghese Chekavar and Iruvar, and Mammootty, in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha and Pazhassi Raja.
'While it was all about making it look good for the camera for the Hollywood stars, our stars respect Kalari because they understand its tradition,' he says. 'It makes working with them worthwhile.'
He says that both actors were very involved in learning Kalari. 'People say that Mammootty does not have a flexible body but he was so dedicated and worked hard on his Kalari moves to get it perfect,' Sathyan recounts.
Bollywood actor Om Puri too receives similar praise. The actor had trained under trainer Shivakumar while working in Lenin Rajendran's Puravrutham .
'We trained in the forests of Wayanad, where the movie was shot. What made the experience unforgettable was that Puri was adamant about learning Kalari from its basics so it doesn't look like he was acting. He valued and enjoyed each lesson,' Shivakumar explains.
Making kalari part of life
The latest celeb he has trained is Kunal Kapoor, who plays the iconic warrior Chandu Chekhavar in director Jayaraj's Veeram. Interestingly, even after the shoot of the movie, Kunal seems to have inculcated the regime as part of his fitness routine. Parineeti Chopra, Isha Sharvani and Shriya Saran are some of the other actors who have added Kalari to amp up their fitness.
Kalari traverses borders
Incidentally, Kalari's popularity is surging worldwide, say experts. 'Hollywood star and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano (of Zatoichi and Thor fame) often flies down to Kozhikode to train in Kerala's martial arts form,' says Sunilkumar.