Shaz Khan couldn’t be extra invested in his newest film, The Martial Artist. The Pakistani-American actor took on appearing, directing, producing, and screenwriting duties. That’s along with the matter of remodeling his physique to appear to be a plausible fighter. Because the film nears its launch, Khan sat down with M&F to replicate on how he remodeled his physique. He additionally talks about how he threw himself fully into the position.
The athletic actor was starting to construct a good on-screen repute earlier than he directed his first quick movie Say it Ain’t So, which centered round boxing, in 2016. It might function inspiration for the self-professed Rocky obsessive to direct his newest full size function movie, The Martial Artist.
On the coronary heart of the story is a journey of self-discovery. Khan’s character, Ibby “The Prince” Bakran, is an MMA fighter who places his potential on the road when he offers in to self-sabotage. Together with his profession slipping between his fingers, Bakran travels to Pakistan to bond along with his grandfather and withstand his demons.
Shaz Khan Turned an MMA Technique Actor
Already an MMA fan, Khan knew that portraying a realistic-looking fight athlete would require him to fully immerse himself within the sport. He’d seen how Sylvester Stallone was capable of write, field, and direct within the Rocky motion pictures, and determined to go all-in along with his personal challenge.
“That was No. 1,” Khan tells M&F. “It’s referred to as The Martial Artist, it’s about MMA fighters, and with martial arts you possibly can’t actually conceal the strategies. I knew that they needed to be fully plausible.”
The actor figured that if he may earn the respect of real fighters, he’d be capable to cross himself off as an MMA athlete to his film viewers. “I didn’t see myself as separate,” he explains. “A variety of occasions I didn’t even inform them I used to be doing a film. I simply did it. I went in like a brand new pupil after which I might inform them in a while. They’d be like, ‘okay, okay.’”
One in every of Khan’s proving grounds was King’s MMA fitness center below the tutelage of the extremely revered Grasp Rafael Cordiero. Khan additionally skilled below Jacob Cho and Grant Collins. “There was jujitsu, there was Muay Thai, there was boxing, wrestling, after which I used to be learning all of the others like Taekwondo, as a result of I figured; take the entire martial arts and know the strategies to then create the choreography that may be essentially the most thrilling. So, the extra you will have in your arsenal the higher. I acquired obsessed. That’s actually what it got here right down to.”
Shaz Khan Educated Hardcore to Look Like an MMA Star
From idea to completion, Khan says his coaching was “fairly hardcore” for 4 years. When it comes to choreography, Khan labored with Ryan Spadafore and Jason Bukich to painstakingly put collectively among the motion sequences. The actor says they have been aware to not fall into making the Hollywood fashion of preventing. As an alternative, they drew from the nicely of “Western Kung Fu, Hong Kong impressed motion,”
Khan relied closely on the experience of his martial arts brothers. On the similar time the actor needed to go it alone when it comes to getting in form and being accepted by the general public as somebody who appears to be like like a reliable fighter. “I actually tried my greatest to lean myself down, drop as a lot weight as potential, however nonetheless have that type of tone, and the bodily cuts which are wanted to make you look good, too,” explains Khan. “A variety of MMA fighters aren’t actually ripped, however they’re extremely sturdy, and so they’re extremely agile and versatile. So, I wished all of that, however I wished so as to add the (outlined) traces as nicely.”
The film begins with Khan as his youth and progresses to him turning into an grownup. For this Khan needed to wrestle with altering his physique inside the film. Moreover his work within the fitness center, the actor made presentational modifications similar to being clear shaven at first of the movie after which showing extra rugged towards the tip.
With an insatiable candy tooth, Khan says that he needed to minimize down on donuts and croissants. He was capable of additional drop his calorie consumption by decreasing his portion sizes at mealtimes and spreading out his meals to keep away from crashing into temptation.
Since he was additionally working round because the film’s director, sustaining his weight really grew to become a problem. The fixed shifting in the course of the shoot was inflicting Khan to burn extra fats than he was consuming. To counter this, he made positive to eat loads of eggs and consumed wholesome fat from meals like avocados. He additionally supplemented with protein shakes between takes. Within the evenings, Khan ate steak or salmon. This helped his physique recuperate from the grueling bodily motion on display screen, and the psychological gymnastics required behind the digital camera.
“I believe it’s superb if you’re simply pushed in opposition to the fence, and also you simply must ship,” says the star of rising to the problem. “You simply go, , and I didn’t have a alternative. Yeah, it was very tiring nights, and particularly in (an especially chilly) Demise Valley. We misplaced half a day as a consequence of a bunch of circumstances. So, we have been making up quite a lot of the schedule in that remaining day, which was actually, actually, powerful. However you simply get it accomplished and I believe when the will is powerful sufficient, it occurs. I can’t say sufficient in regards to the actors, too, as a result of ultimately this can be a dramatic piece. You’ve got the preventing, however there actually is a narrative about these characters and a few of these performances I’m so happy with. I believe individuals will join.”
The movie is fantastically shot. It additionally marks a milestone as the primary worldwide, English-speaking movie to function 4 lead actors from Pakistan. The Martial Artist hits onerous in theaters from April 4, 2025.
