Wrestling has emerged as a hit formula for Bollywood films.

And when reigning superstars Salman Khan and Aamir Khan both took the parts of Haryanvi wrestlers in their new movies Sultan and Dangal, their preparation went far beyond putting on weight.

The two stars have a massive fan following, and were keen to look effortless in their portrayal of wrestlers. In order to go beyond a cosmetic makeover, the actors both hired wrestling champions to give them exhaustive training.

Arjuna-awardee Kripa Shankar Bishnoi (left) coached Aamir Khan for his upcoming movie Dangal

Kripa Shankar Bishnoi, 40, is an Indore-based wrestler, coach of the Indian women’s wrestling team, and winner of the prestigious Arjuna award (conferred for excellence in sports).

He trained Aamir Khan and the entire crew for the movie Dangal, which is slated for a December release.

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the movie is based on the life of ace Indian wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who coached his daughters Geeta Phogat (a Commonwealth Games gold medal winner), and Babita Kumari (a 2012 bronze medal winner at the World Wrestling Championship).

Kripa Shankar, who was referred to as ‘coach’ on set, headed the workshops for all the actors including Aamir Khan. Pictured: A poster for Dangal, which is slated for a December release.

Wrestler Kripa Shankar, who is also an Indian Railways employee, was granted leave of 14 months to be a part of the Dangal crew.

He said of the film's creation: "A movie revolving around the life of a wrestler, it was important that the central characters did not look like a caricature. Besides acquiring a perfect body shape, it was important for the characters to understand the psyche of a wrestler.

Kripa Shankar, who was referred to as ‘coach’ on set, headed the workshops for all the actors including Aamir Khan.

In order to portray the ageing wrestler Phogat the actor had gained 30 kg, taking his weight to 98 kg. He then shed the extra pounds in a few months to play the younger version of his character.

“Aamir was extremely passionate right from the word go. He would be a completely different person on the sets and sometimes looked like one of the villagers,” said Kripa, speaking of the shooting in Punjab villages.

National wrestling champion Jagdish Kaliraman trained Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma for their recent blockbuster Sultan, which is already setting box office records

Kripa also trained newcomers Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra, who play Geeta and Babita in Dangal.

"It was important for each of them to acquire the explosive strength, learn the wrestling tricks and adapt to an accurate mind and body coordination - which is important for wrestler inside a ring,” Kripa explained.

“The characters will be shown wrestling with the professional wrestlers while depicting various championships, in the movie. We did not want to cheat the audience by showing the actors by merely imitating some random wrestling moves."

“Both Salman and Anushka are quick learners," said Kaliraman. A still from the film Sultan (pictured above)

Dangal will highlight the widely-ignored traditional Indian sport of Kushti, which is usually played on muddy ground and has historically been known as a male domain.

It was only in 1997 that India gave serious thought to having women wrestlers, after receiving a directive from World Wrestling Federation.

The traditional families of Pehalwan (the Hindi word for wrestlers) largely based in India’s hinterland, were divided over having women inside the ring.

What is Pehlwani - Indian wrestling? Pehlwani or kust is a form of wrestling which is most common in South-Asia. Believed to have been developed during the Mughal era, it was a combination of malla-yuddha and Persian wrestling style Koshti pahlavani. Wrestling competitions, known as dangal or kushti, are traditionally held in villages in a ring, formed in either a circular or square shape, measuring at least fourteen feet across. Rather than using modern mats, South-Asian wrestlers train and compete on dirt floors. Before training, the floor is raked of any pebbles or stones. Buttermilk, oil, and red ochre are sprinkled to the ground, giving the dirt its red hue. Water is added every few days to keep it at the right consistency, which is soft enough to avoid injury, but hard enough not to impede the wrestlers' movements. Every match is preceded by the wrestlers throwing a few handfuls of dirt from the floor onto themselves and their opponent, as a form of blessing. Advertisement

The movie tries to narrate the drama of Mahavir Phogat’s life, as he defies the rules of the Jat community in rural Haryana to train his own daughters.

Kripa found parallels between Phogat's experience and his own, saying: "I could relate to the character and the turmoil in Dangal, as I belong to traditional family of Pehalwans. The elders in our family decided to break the traditional ‘only male’ norm, and now I have been training my nieces too.”

While fans of Amir Khan will have to wait five months before Dangal hits cinemas, Salman Khan's Sultan is already making a huge splash.

National champion Jagdish Kaliraman, 40, the son of famous wrestler Master Chandgi Ram, was the official trainer and coach on Sultan, tasked with making the lead stars Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma “look at ease”.

“It’s important that the stars move beyond their image and look like the character. We were successful in doing that,” says Jagdish.

He can’t stop raving at the stupendous success of Sultan, which is generating big bucks at the box office.

“Both Salman and Anushka are quick learners. We had choreographed the wrestling sequences and had modified the moves keeping in mind Salman’s old injuries,” says Jagdish.