Roshan Mathew recalls training with three trainers to prepare for his role of ex-convict-turned-wrestler in Chatha Pacha

Roshan Mathew in ‘Chatha Pacha’

A bunch of ex-convicts forming a wrestling club is a wacky idea. That's exactly what drew Roshan Mathew to Chatha Pacha, director Adhvaith Nayar's upcoming Malayalam action comedy. Naturally, in a film revolving around wrestling, the actor had to get his character's physicality right. "Majority of our prep was physical in nature," recalls Mathew, who is joined by Arjun Ashokan in the movie.

The actor elaborates, "All of us began training three-four months before the shoot. We had three training sessions every day. One was with Davis Thomas, who worked on injury-proofing our body, strengthening our muscles, and making sure that the body could recover. The second trainer was Shravan, who guided us in stunts and acrobatics. Plus, we had our personal training."

Mathew was originally supposed to collaborate with Nayar on another project. When that didn't materialise, the director shared the idea of Chatha Pacha with him. Mathew shares, "I have known Adhvaith since Moothon [2019]; he was part of the direction team. He had pitched another story to me before this, but that didn't work out. Then he came to me with this idea. What hooked me instantly was this outlandish idea of Fort Kochi boys setting up a wrestling ring."