Vicky Kaushal to beef up for The Immortal Ashwatthama, learn Krav Maga and Jujitsu: report

Actor Vicky Kaushal has an interesting line-up of films, with his horror flick Bhoot Part 1: The Haunted Ship releasing later this month. He will begin shooting for Takht too from February. It is now being reported that he will train for four months as prep for his new film, The Immortal Ashwatthama.

According to a report in Bollywood Hungama, the actor will train in mixed martial arts, Israeli martial art Krag Maga and Japanese martial art, Jujitsu for The Immortal Ashwatthama, to be directed by his Uri director Aditya Dhar. The report says that since he is already learning horse riding for Takht, that skill too shall come in handy. In addition, the actor will also learn archery, sword fighting and spear fighting for the film.

Not just that, the actor is likely to beef up for the role. For Uri, he went up to 90-95 kgs but for The Immortal Ashwatthama , he is likely to weigh 110 to 115 kgs. The film, to be produced by Ronnie Screwvala, will be extensively shot across the world in places as diverse as New Zealand, Namibia, Tokyo and Greenland. The film’s VFX will be done in the US.

For the uninitiated, Ashwatthama was the son of Guru Dronacharya, the teacher of the Kauravas and Pandavas. In the battle of Mahabharata, he fought on the side of the Kauravas, like his father. He is one of the seven immortals or ‘chiranjivis’ in Hindu religion, along with Hanuman, Parashurama, Rishi Vyasa, Vibhishana, King Bali, and Acharya Kripa. Ashwatthama was born with a jewel on his forehead that gave him protection against hunger, thirst and fatigue. During the battle of Kurukshretra, Lord Krishna tricks Dronacharya into believing that Ashwatthama had died, in an attempt to digress his attention and stop him from creating havoc in the Pandava camp.

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Speaking about his fascination with the character, Aditya had told Mumbai Mirror, “Ashwatthama is one of the most powerful and mysterious characters from the Mahabharata. Being Drona’s son, he is a brilliant warrior but also arrogant and egoistic because he is immortal. In comparison to other warriors like Arjuna and Karna, not much is written about him in various versions of the Mahabharata. He is not perfect but then none of us are, which is what I love the most about him.”

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