Took Farhan 20 minutes to convince me to do the film, says Toofaan director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Farhan Akhtar and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra have teamed up again for a sports drama, Toofaan (2021), after their collaboration on Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013).

Toofaan, which sees Farhan Akhtar in the role of street thug Ajju Bhai who turns into a professional boxer, is slated to be released on Amazon Prime Video on 16 July.

Yesterday, the team of Toofaan — Mehra, Farhan Akhtar and female lead Mrinal Thakur — spoke to journalists at a virtual press conference.

Mehra revealed that it was Farhan Akhtar who came to him with the story of Toofaan. "Seven years ago I had this wonderful story of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and I took it to Farhan and we spoke about it not more than 20 minutes and decided to make the film," he recalled. "Fast forward seven years later, Farhan called me and told me he has this interesting idea for a film called Toofaan and it took me 20 minutes to say yes to the film!

"Generally, people discuss what is the start, what is the middle of the film, but I was blown away by its spirit," the director said.

Mehra and Farhan have met and discussed quite a few other ideas over the years, but this was the film both were excited about doing together.

Farhan said comparisons with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag were inevitable and he is fine with that. "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was an amazing experience," the actor-filmmaker said. "The way it was appreciated critically, its box-office success, it set a sort of benchmark for us.

"But we have to think what it was about Bhaag Milkha Bhaag that people appreciated so much. It was the honesty of effort, the sincerity with which we told the story, and how we applied ourselves to make the story and Milkhaji's life come alive on screen without trying to manipulate the audience. So the challenge was to replicate that honesty in effort in our next work."

Farhan Akhtar has gone through a big physical transformation for his role in Toofan. He first had to lose weight and build a physique to look the part of a professional pugilist. Then he had to undo all that for a portion in the film that reportedly required him to put on 15 kilos in six weeks.

The actor said that while undertaking such dramatic weight loss and gain in quick succession was a challenge, it did not hurt his health too much. "That portion where I have to be completely out of shape might have taken a little toll of my health, but otherwise I was quite normal," he said.

Toofaan also features Paresh Rawal, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Hussain Dalal, Dr Mohan Agashe and Darshan Kumaar in pivotal roles. The film has been produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Farhan Akhtar.