Have to be physically fit, cautious for action scenes, says Anil Kapoor

Mumbai: Anil Kapoor admits that doing action sequences has become tough for him but the 53-year-old industry veteran says he has not given up and is training hard to keep fit and fight the goons.

Kapoor flexed his muscles during 90s in many of his films including `Rakhwala`, `Meri Jung` and `Insaaf Ki Awaaz` among others. With `Tezz`, `Race 2` and his upcoming release `Shootout at Wadala`, he is back in action space. "Today it gets difficult to do action scenes as I am not young. So physically I have to be much more fit and stronger. As there is a possibility of me getting hurt more. The flexibility becomes lesser, the metabolism becomes slower and the bones are little weaker," Kapoor told reporters. "I have to work hard and be extra cautious. And sleep well before I go for shoot. Earlier there was a time when I used to not sleep properly and go on sets and do action but today I can`t afford that. So I have been mentally alert. I have to act my age," he said. Kapoor, even when he is not shooting, chooses to work out on his body and remain fit and strong. "I am ok with it (larger than life action). I like it. I have done `Rakhwala`, `Insaaf Ki Aawaz`, `Jeevan Ek Sangarsh` and so many films where action was over the top," Kapoor said. "What I am doing today is also fun. I am an actor so I have to do different things. But now I don`t prefer to do that kind of action films as I have done that... So let the younger actors do it now," he added. `Shootout at Wadala` is a action crime drama directed by Sanjay Gupta. It is a prequel to 2007 film `Shootout at Lokhandwala` and is based on the first-ever registered encounter by Mumbai police, where gangster Manya Surve was shot dead, in Wadala in 1982. The film features John Abraham as gangster Manya, Tusshar Kapoor as gangster Sheikh Munir, Sonu Sood as Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, Manoj Bajpai as Sabir Ibrahim Kaskar and Kapoor as ACP Isaque Bagwan. The film will see Kapoor doing some real action scenes. "In this film, the budget was constrained. So our action is quite real and in the given budget we have tried to do as much effective action as we could. Our budget is not like `Dhoom`, `Ek Tha Tiger` which was huge, using foreign technicians, technical work etc," Kapoor said. For his role of encounter specialist Isaque Bhagwan, Kapoor got a leaner look and has tried to make action scenes look convincing. "I had to work a lot on the physicality for this film. I had to be physically fit as there were lots of action scenes. I had to look younger than what I am. There is one portion where I had to look like a student, it is a tough task. It was not very easy," Kapoor said. "I tried my best to look as convincing and real I could. I had to lose seven to eight kilos and I hope people appreciate that," he said. Kapoor, who is playing a role that is based on real life character (Bhagwan), said he finds it is both easy and difficult to essay it. "It becomes easy and difficult both. Easy because as you get first hand information and difficult because of the comparison," he said. PTI