Alia Bhatt to Priyanka Chopra: Actors take sports lessons for films

To essay the role of a hockey player convincingly in her next, Alia Bhatt has been training hard in the sport

Till now, she has portrayed a few girl-next-door roles with ease, but for her next, which also stars Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt is set to transform into a hockey player. And to be true to her character, the actor has apparently been training in hockey.

"Alia has been regularly going for her hockey training for about two hours in the morning. She has been doing so for over two weeks now," says an insider.

Interestingly, earlier this month, she had also posted a picture of a hockey stick on Instagram, with the caption, ‘My new friend’.

Alia-Bhatt

In a bid to avoid prying eyes, Alia has been training early in the morning (7 am to 9 am). The insider adds, "Not many people are aware about the venue she practices at. Since the film is set in Punjab, a state that is famous for its hockey players, Alia isn’t leaving anything to chance as she plays a professional hockey player in the movie."

It is being directed by Abhishek Chaubey.

Despite repeated attempts, the actor couldn’t be reached for a comment.

Sporting spirit

While preparing for their respective characters, several other Bollywood actresses also learned different sports:

Priyanka Chopra — Boxing

She underwent four months of intense training (although her basic training started many months before that) before turning into Mary Kom for the big screen. To play the Olympic medallist, she trained for five to six hours a day with coach Ravi Saharn.

Parineeti Chopra — Golf

For Kill Dil (2014), she was specially trained in golf. Although she was required to play the game only for a few sequences, she didn’t want it to look fake. So, a coach was specially hired to train her.

Sonakshi Sinha — Boxing

The actor who played a college-level boxer in the Akshay Kumar-starrer Holiday — A Soldier Is Never Off Duty (2014), wanted to be authentic in her portrayal. So, Akshay roped in Olympic medallist Vijender Singh to train her for a few days.

Sonam Kapoor — Tennis

She played a tennis star in her 2010 film, Thank You. In fact, it was rumoured that her role was based on Sania Mirza, which Sonam, however, staunchly denied. Apparently, the actor received professional tennis training for the part.