I didn't dream that I'd ever play kabaddi': Tamannaah Bhatia

In the lockdown period, Tamannaah Bhatia has been coming up with innovative forms of working out  using fruits and buckets!

Calling it a ‘fruitful workout’, she tells us, “After filling a bucket with watermelon, muskmelon, and random heavy fruits, I am lifting the bucket and doing the exercises. It’s the perfect way, under the circumstances, to keep  the workout sessions exciting. I am using the bucket for bent over rows, high pulls, front raises, swings, squats and lunges!”

Talking about her role of Jwala Singh, a Telangana Kabaddi coach, in the Sampath Nandi directorial Seetimaar, she says a major portion of her part was shot before the lockdown.

She admits she had never imagined that she would get to play kabaddi in her life, let alone in a film.

Stressing that Kabaddi is very disciplined sport, the actress said “I learnt to be vigilant and focussed on physical and physiological aspects such as strength, endurance, flexibility and agility. I was in training mode for close to two months.”

“It is imperative that I look extremely fit and lean and strong for such a character. So I trained hard and intensely for the role. It was physically and mentally challenging. The only issue was that I’ve never played the sport before. But I did everything I could to look the part,” she said.

She had to learn the Telangana slang. “It’s challenging, but Sampath Sir helped me with the dialogue delivery.

The fact that I am familiar with Telugu came in handy,” she shared, adding, “I underwent a complete transformation for this particular role, right from the language, to acquiring technical knowledge about the game, maintaining a good fitness regime, attending special training sessions etc.”