By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

A breed of very dedicated actors seems to have come into being in Bollywood. The latest to join the league is Sushant Singh, who has been training in the ancient oriental art of kickboxing for his role in "Lahore".

"I've got a trainer from Thailand, Mark. It's for a film called 'Lahore', by a young new director Sanjay Chauhan. The whole film revolves around the theme of kickboxing," Sushant told IANS.

Though Sushant had done some boxing in his college days, training in kickboxing has been another experience altogether.

"I've been training religiously and my muscles have grown quite impressive," he said.

Sushant and his co-star Vikas, a wannabe from Haryana, would be practising kickboxing without any duplicates.

Earlier, Saif Ali Khan cut his hair and practised his Uttar Pradesh dialect for "Omkara". Abhishek Bachchan has put on oodles of weight to look 50-plus in Mani Ratnam's ready-to-release "Guru".

And John Abraham learnt to play flute for Deepa Mehta's "Water" and is learning guitar for "Rock Star".

Sushant says his new look will help him for his role in Ram Gopal Varma's "Sholay".

"My new toned physique is useful for my role as Samba in 'Sholay'. I've just started shooting with Bachchan saab (Amitabh) for the film. And it's quite an experience."

Sushant sports a totally different look as Samba in "Sholay". He has tanned complexion, short spiky hair, a moustache that goes down on his chin on both sides of his face and a scar on his eyebrow. Sushant wears a black T-shirt and green cargo pant for his role as Samba.

"When Bachchan saab walks in with his Gabbar's get up, I feel 10 feet tall. We've worked together in Raj Kumar Santoshi's 'Family'. This is something else," said Sushant, who has worked in films like "Satya", "Jungle", "Darna Mana Hai" and "Sehar".