The curtain goes up tomorrow on the remarkable physical transformation of Rajkummar Rao for his first action role in the violent thriller ‘Maalik’. He plays a gangster by the same name and the film’s trailer showed the actor engaged in bloody gunfights and gritty hand combat for the first time in his versatile 15-year career. Talking about his intense transformation for this character, Rajkummar told PeepingMoon.com that the preparation was as much emotional as it was physical.

For him to be able to convincingly step into the shoes of a powerful gangster, Rajkummar revealed he had to eat a lot. “I wanted to gain a lot of weight. I wanted to be very strong so I needed to beef up just for myself. Because I wanted to have a very different physicality for this film. That's the reason I grew my hair and beard for a couple of months and then I hit the gym for almost two hours every day. When you are in shape, your walk is different and a lot of things change. That's the reason I look a certain way now,” he said.

Directed by Pulkit, ‘Maalik’ is an out-and-out, blood and gore action thriller releasing in theatres tomorrow. The film also stars Manushi Chhillar, Huma Qureshi, and Prosenjit Chatterjee. With this performance, Rajkummar is ready to showcase a never seen before avatar that reflects both raw power and deep commitment.