Taapsee Pannu‘s next film, Rashmi Rocket, got us super excited right when they released the first look of the film! The actress was apparently working on her training for the film when the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 was imposed. Rashmi Rocket is a story of a simple girl from Gujarat, who makes her mark in sports with sprinting.
Taapsee is being trained in Melwyn Crasto — an athletic coach with the Central Railways. Melwyn has previously trained the likes of Farhan Akhtar for his film, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Aamir Khan now for Laal Singh Chadha. Speaking to Mid-Day about training Taapsee, he talks about how she is super punctual and was always there for her two-hour training sessions at 6 a.m everyday. He also says that it is very important for the actor to look graceful while running, which he says he had to train her in.
He says:
Ideally, it takes six months to prepare an actor for such a film. But Taapsee is a fast learner. We had to focus on her speed, strength and explosive power, and agility. The benefit of working with Taapsee is that her coordination is good. Being a squash player worked to her advantage, because she could pick up exercises that would take 15 sessions to learn, in five.
Here’s the motion poster of the film:
Speaking about the strategies he has used to train Taapsee in sprinting, he says that her sessions include a lot of endurance training.
Talking about it, he explains:
This is something I learnt when training Farhan [Akhtar] for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. An athlete is made to run a 100-metre race, and that’s the end of it. Often, the actor is made to run repeatedly throughout the day. Even then, only half a race would be shot. Hence, endurance training is necessary for them to sustain such high levels of activity without compromising on the form.
I sure can’t wait to see Taapsee in this film!
Produced by Akarsh Khuranna and produced by RSVP Films, Rashmi Rocket also features Aparshakti Khurana and Priyanshu Painyuli in pivotal roles. The film was set to go on floors this April, but has been pushed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.