Channelised my aggression, frustration through boxing: Mahat Raghavendra

CHENNAI: Mahat Raghavendra looks as fit as a fiddle and most importantly he sounds more positive than he has ever been. We ask him the reason behind his subtle transformation off screen, and he sends us pictures of him from inside a boxing ring.

“To be honest, I wasn’t getting a lot of work from the industry and wanted to divert myself by doing something that would keep my fitness intact as well. I registered for a boxing coaching in Chennai,” begins Mahat.

It was only when he visited Sydney a few months ago, Mahat became more passionate towards the sport. “I had gone to visit my sister along with Prachi and my kid. However, I didn’t want to lose touch with boxing.

I enrolled in a boxing club and Australian boxing champion Koen Mazoudier was training in the same club too. When we spoke, he said he would train me. That is when things started changing for me and I took up the sport more seriously since then,” he adds.

Boxing isn’t a mere sport for the actor but the ring has ended up being a place where Mahat fights his inner demons in the last few months. “All we can do is to do good work and keep waiting for results. I kept looking at the horizon for the last four years in the cinema.

When nothing substantial happens even in the fifth year, frustration starts kicking in. Moreover, it is not easy to be an actor even off the camera. There are people waiting to backstab and put you down when we are climbing up the ladder. Having gone through all these, I was annoyed and aggression creeped in as I did not get films that I wanted to do. Boxing became the perfect vent to channelise my aggression,” Mahat remarks.

Undoubtedly, Mahat too was inspired by actor-racer Ajith Kumar, with whom he shared screen space in Mankatha (2011). “Ajith anna showed us that an actor can have a passion outside the sets too and can follow it. We see him emerging successful from what he is doing away from camera and it motivates us as well,” the actor states.

Up next, Mahat wants to compete in boxing leagues. “I have been training in Chennai with a state-level champion. I want to participate in tournaments and take this to the next level,” he says with confidence. On the workfront, he adds, “I have been listening to a few scripts and will be deciding on them soon.