It is routine for UAE-based Prashant Nair to get up close with his patients considering that he is an orthodontist. In everyday life, it would be a lot safer to maintain not an arm’s length but five or six arms length from him. The handsome doctor is a martial arts expert and he is fresh off his win at the ‘Arnis’ also called as ‘Escrima’ or ‘Kali’ International Championship in the Philippines. Arnis is the national martial art form of the Philippines and is currently practised in many parts of the world where many army personnel too are taught this mainly because of its simplicity and deadly effectiveness and practicality. He claims to be the first Indian to win the Gold and the championship, beating top athletes from all over the world.
If the doctor looks familiar, it is also because he is an actor and was seen in a small role in the recent film Take Off playing a good guy. Prashant has also acted in films like Thuppakki and will be seen in the upcoming Tamil film Rangoon where he plays a prominent role with shades of grey.
Coming back to Arnis, Prashant says, “The style that I trained for is called ‘Alfonso Kali Scientific Lightning Arnis’. Alfonso Tim is the name of my teacher and coach. He had studied ancient methods of fighting (kali) from his grandfather and also under the late legendary master Benjamin Luna Lema who invented the style Scientific Lightning Arnis. It’s so called as each technique has a scientific approach and each attack is done fast, based on the calculated distance from the enemy.”
No small an achievement it is. The preparation and hard work that has gone into the role has also been intense. “I had been preparing for this event for a year and the last three months, with full attention. The training includes running, gym, training outdoors with full armour on in hot conditions to simulate a real fight scenario when one has to fight for longer time, and also realistic fights with no holding back with fighters of other Arnis schools/clubs.” He adds, “The training was very tough with injuries, but like the saying ‘No pains no gains’. But the end was worth it!”
Describing himself as an orthodontist by profession, an actor by passion, the martial artist elaborates on how his interest in Arnis began. “They say that the biggest fight a person has is the fight within and so when I was faced with many setbacks in life, Master Tim Alfonso told me to set a goal and go after it. Since my coach was a gold medallist, he agreed to train me if I give my 100 per cent commitment. My coach quoted a battle phrase of Philippines — ‘Weapons change, but warriors don’t.’ I used the same analogy in life, ‘My situations in life will keep changing but I am a fighter, a warrior, a survivor inside and I will survive no matter what.”
Coming back to Take Off, he says, “Though the role of Saleem was small, the reach it had was great. The reason I got involved with this project was firstly because of the realistic story line which had a social message. Second was the chance to work with director Mahesh Narayanan. I had liked his work as an editor of many movies, especially Traffic, and I didn’t want to lose an opportunity to work with him.”
