Mumbai: “Puncch Beat 2” is a mix of boxing and music, and in the second season the makers have added mixed martial arts, or MMA. Trainer Mayur Bansode was roped in to hone the fighting skills of actors Priyank Sharma and Siddharth Sharma for the show.
“Both have commendable patience, which is great for them to train in martial arts,” says Mayur, about the two stars.
He recalls the days of their training in the hotel: “When I started training them, the shoot was already on. We used to train in the hotel in the evening. It was tough to manage training because they used to be exhausted after 12 hours of shooting. The shoot would even stretch to 14 to 16 hours on days. But they never gave up. They even trained late at night.”
Mayur reveals that all the actors performed their scenes without anybody doubles despite harsh weather conditions in Dehradun. “Actors performed every move without any duplicates,” he recalls.
Talking about injuries on the sets during the shoot, Mayur says: “We has practiced the fundamental techniques of MMA — like how to take a fall and how to absorb an opponent’s power — as part of the initial training. Therefore, there were no major injuries.”
On Priyank Sharma, who plays Rahat Choudhary in the show, Mayur reveals he has an athletic body and he would pick up techniques in the shortest time during the training. “He is a professional dancer and has all the qualities of an athlete like good physique, flexibility and strength. While performing MMA, his level was of a professional fighter. If he takes up MMA professionally, he can match the kick style of Jean-Claude Van Damme. He can be the desi Jean-Claude,” says Mayur.
Mayur concludes saying that “Puncch Beat 2” encourages youngsters to take up the sport. “It is the first Indian web series that promotes and features MMA,” he says about the show that streams on ALTBalaji.
