Rohit Saraf on preparing for The Revolutionaries: ‘Gym gave me size, Kalaripayattu gave me agility’

Rohit Saraf. Pics/By Special Arrangement, Youtube

What does the charming Rishi of Mismatched have in common with Indian freedom fighter Sachindra Nath Sanyal? Absolutely nothing, except the actor playing them on screen. Known for his romantic persona in Mismatched, actor Rohit Saraf stepped into a role that was worlds apart from him - Sanyal in creator Nikkhil Advani's The Revolutionaries.

"People had seen me do certain kinds of parts before, and I understand why Sachin wouldn't be the first character somebody would associate with me. I had an opportunity to challenge the typecast," smiled the actor.

The Revolutionaries, which drops on Prime Video today, tells the story of India's armed resistance led by the youth in 1912 to end the British Raj. As freedom fighter Sanyal, Saraf had to undergo an intensive physical transformation. "I knew early on that if I only looked stronger, it wouldn't necessarily make me believable as Sachin. These were young men training, hiding, and fighting. I wanted that resilience to become instinctive," he reflected.

A still from The Revolutionaries

That meant a rigorous training schedule of 10 months, with Saraf working on strength and conditioning, Kalaripayattu, and action. He explained, "Every form of training was teaching my body something different. The gym gave me size and strength, Kalaripayattu gave me agility, and the action training taught me how to use all of it."

Even as he physically became stronger, the actor knew that Sanyal's grit came from his emotional strength. "The more I read about Sachin and the more we worked on him, the more fascinated I became by how deeply emotional he was. His conviction existed not because he was devoid of fear or tenderness. It existed alongside those [emotions]."

Meet the revolutionaries

. Gurfateh Pirzada as Bagha Jatin
. Pratibha Ranta as Pratibha Lahiri
. Bhuvan Bam as Rash Behari Bose