The actor says that he has always been a fan of the action genre and larger-than-life heroes and that the persona of the latter attracts him the most. By Team Viva

Be it jaw-dropping stunts a thousand feet above the ground or fighting with foes, we have all seen Tiger Shroff’s extreme action sequences, recently in Baaghi 2 and in many ad campaigns. But he never tires of the genre and he chose War only because it allowed him to excel in it. He says, “I have always been a fan of action heroes. Their larger-than-life persona and heroism attract me the most. It’s something I have always wanted to do.” That’s the reason he has trained in martial arts since childhood.

The film revolves around the story of two secret agents (played by Hrithik Roshan and Tiger). One is a mentor and the other a protégé. They land up on the opposite ends of the spectrum as one of them turns rogue.

Normally, creativity is something you do not associate with action films. But Tiger says that War is very different. “We have tried to scale up the level of action and offered a variety of such sequences to the audience. We have fought on everything possible, be it ice, air, land or water,” he adds.

“There are very different styles of action, location and get-up. It’s more on the lines of Mission Impossible. It’s like Ethan Hunt versus James Bond and Superman versus Batman on the battlefield. The film is a visual spectacle and a great action entertainer,” Tiger says.

Though he has never played the role of a special agent, he was impressed by his character, Khalid, and his ability to learn new things. He says, “I had to push myself out of my comfort zone in order to offer something new to the audience. I worked a lot on my body language and fighting style. It needs time even to bring a minute change in your body language. It was challenging but I am glad I was able to do it.” Even after going through the struggles of the character, Tiger says that he enjoyed the relationship with his guru, Hrithik, and the dynamism of the duo.

The actor had to work on every nuance of the character in order to appeal the audience differently. Says he, “I read a lot of books, which helped me understand my character better. I learnt how to ride a bike and car on the ice. The variety of action is so wide that I had to train myself separately for each of them. Not only this, in order to do the stunts perfectly, the repetitive rehearsals that went into this role were quite a tedious task.”

He recalls an incident while he was rehearsing for his introductory action sequence for the film. I could hear his palpable voice on the other end of the phone as he mentions that the scene was shot without cuts for two-and-a-half minutes.

With Hrithik on the sets, Tiger had his own fantasy moments. “It was an absolute pleasure working with Hrithik. He is my hero and idol. I still can’t believe that I got a chance to work with someone I look up to. I have learnt a lot from him. It was amazing and such an easy experience. He is such a good dancer and is equally good in action, which is all about timing. Whenever we fought with each other, our (action) sequences complemented so well,” he says, adding that he felt inspired by watching him because he is always hungry for more. He aims for perfection and never settles for less. Whenever he asked Hrithik about anything, he used to oblige him with a yes.

The actor feels that after Baaghi 2, which was his major hit, people’s expectations have gone up. More importantly, he has higher expectations of himself.

The actor is both nervous and excited. He says, “It’s because I got an opportunity to work with my hero, it is huge for me. I am working with Yash Raj Films for the first time, and of course, my director Siddharth Anand, who is fantastic. I am looking forward to working with him again soon.”

The actor is all set for his forthcoming, Rambo, the second time with War director Anand and Baaghi 3.

(The film releases on October 2 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.)