Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Sundeep Kishan lost eleven kilos in five months and wants to lose another three for Dennis Jeevan Kanukolanu’s first film in Telugu titled A1 Express. Sundeep says all his life he maintained a muscular style but this time he had to look athletic and give full credit to his trainer Kuldeep Sethi. He tells Klapboardpost, “He guided me with my workout and diet and made sure I would work three and a half hours. This was before lockdown. I had the cleanest diet, and haven’t touched sugar for the longest time. I did a mix of weight lifting and high intensity training and henceforth for every film I want to be really fit unless I am required to put on weight.”
In A1 Express, Sundeep is a hockey player and the plot is about a journey of a guy learning to play hockey. Though Sundeep had played hockey earlier, it is the first time he took proper training. Lavanya Tripathi too plays the game. Ask him about the progression in the game, he says, “It is the maddest film I ever worked in and we were trained properly for the story. It is a difficult game and you have to bend and also legs have to be very fit to play well. We are always in a squat position. It is tricky but a super cool game. I have never been this confident in my entire film career, I was shocked when I saw it and I must say I am happy as well as confident.”
The actor states that after Chak De, we haven’t had another film revolving around the same game. India won its first gold for the country in hockey years ago and it is a true and a massy sport. Since it will be visually interesting, it will give a fabulous theatrical experience. He further talks of the high points in the story, “There are 16 of them that come in the second half. The Telugu audience will enjoy it in the theatre because of the sound, vibe et al. It has been shot at the Begumpet hockey stadium and the climax is scheduled at Mohali. We will also be shooting in Yanam for four days.”Sundeep has given his best and he speaks a little on his team. The director is a short film maker from Vizag and just like him, the entire crew is young. Cinematographer Kavin Raj is 24 years old and has worked in the Tamil industry and the actor wants to introduce a new technician in every film henceforth. Music is by Hip Hop Tamizha and there is apparently not one dull moment; The RR is very new age, there is hard rock and a Carnatic song too.
Finally, ask him if all the sports stories have the same underdog eventually emerging as the winner, he remarks, “Every film is the same unless it is an Interstellar where no one knows what is happening. As a script A1 Express has an extraordinary drama. It will give all a new experience and an adrenaline rush. Lot of people are playing interesting roles, Rao Ramesh, Murali Sharma, Priyadarshi, Satya, Mahesh Vitta etc. Every guy has a moment of his own and you will applaud. Each character is a hero and villain is a superhero, Rao Ramesh is the antagonist. Murali Sharma is the coach.”
