Is Bollywood martial arts actor Vidyut Jammwal India’s Bruce Lee? John Abraham’s vegan kung fu-loving co-star runs self-defence workshops for women and is a PETA ambassador

Sep 30 , 2020

Meet model and Bollywood actor Vidyut Jammwal, an accomplished martial artist who is vegan. Photo: @mevidyutjammwal/ \Instagram

You might know Vidyut Jammwal for his Bollywood fame, notorious good looks and killer physique – but the film star is more than a handsome face: he’s also an accomplished martial artist.

From the tender age of three, Jammwal trained in Kalaripayattu in his home region of Jammu, India. The martial art form is believed to be the oldest in India, designed for the battlefields with weapons and combat techniques.

He started out as a model and made his Bollywood debut alongside John Abraham in Force in 2011, taking home the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debutant. But what really got him attention both as an actor and martial artist was his movie Commando. The film made it to the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal in July 2013 followed by the Fantastic Fest in Texas in September. Jammwal received positive comments from international media, who crowned him India’s answer to Bruce Lee and Tony Jaa. In 2017, he starred in Commando 2, the sequel to Commando, successfully establishing his foothold in the film industry.

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In 2019, Jammwal starred in American director Chuck Russell’s debut Bollywood movie, Junglee, followed by Commando 3, the final movie in the Commando series – and the most successful. His upcoming projects include Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Yaara, a remake of the French film Les Lyonnais.

When it comes to fitness, Jammwal’s routine packs a punch, combining martial arts training with elements of cardiovascular, weight, and interval training. An ardent rock climber, Jammwal visited the Shaolin Temple in China in 2013 to honour Bodhidharma, an Indian Buddhist monk who is credited with introducing Indian combat forms and exercises to China, which is said to have then created Shaolin kung fu.

While most Bollywood stars hire body doubles for action sequences and choreography, Jammwal takes it upon him to choreograph all the action sequences for his movies. And not only does he promote martial arts across his social media, he also makes it a point to organise self-defence workshops for women in various colleges across India.

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Despite his intense workout regime, Jammwal is – surprisingly – a vegan who doesn’t believe in strict dieting. He derives most of his protein from tofu across six small meals a day that also comprise a lot of fruit. He’s also an ambassador of PETA, promoting a meat-free lifestyle alongside filmmaker and fellow actress Kangana Ranaut.

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Asian cinema: Bollywood

Step aside, Akshay Kumar: Vidyut Jammwal isn’t only a Bollywood star and model, he’s also a martial artist who has trained in Kalaripayattu since the age of three. Boasting co-stars like John Abraham and Tiger Shroff, he also choreographs all his own action scenes, is a vegan ambassador for PETA, and runs self-defence workshops for women