He has worked with likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Sunny Deol and John Abraham. He is a personal trainer of Akshay Kumar and has started the all India Karate Tournament with him. Martial arts practitioner Mehul Vora has come a long way since his days as a scrawny kid. “I was a weak and sickly kid and always used to get beaten up by the other kids. But when I started training in martial arts it was me who was beating the other kids,” says Mehul who now runs in his own martial arts training institute and owns a disaster management firm. He also scripted the Seven Deadly Arts with Akshay Kumar which was a mini series aired on the National Geographic channel.
Along with the action hero, Mehul has also started the Karate Tournament in 2009, an event completely sponsored by Akshay Kumar. “We have over 4000 children participating from all over the country and winners are sent to Japan to compete further,” says the martial arts instructor who has also trained the Mumbai and Surat police as well. He says martial arts is all about mind over matter and it helps to take control of situation when in stress or trouble. In fact, it is his martial arts discipline that helped him to rescue the lives of four foreigners during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. “If not for martial arts I would have started crying. But martial arts helps in dealing with high risk situations when there is a sudden adrenaline rush. More than physical strength it helps in mental sharpness which helps in putting up a good fight,” he explains. On an ordinary day, Mehul spends 45 minutes doing cardio vascular exercises and one hour of practice of martial arts.
Having choreographed action sequences for all lot of Hindi movies, as a choreographer it is a challenge to differentiate between the practical moves and the ones that look good on screen. He says, “Moves in martial arts is very practical but for the big screen you need to choreograph so that it looks flashy and larger than life, yet at the same time authentic.”
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Following his passion for the defence form, Mehul Vora is now associated with the ‘Guns and Girls Festival' on Star Movies where the channel will air action movies with the women as the lead throughout the month of March. He insists that every girl should it take up for self defence and wants martial arts made compulsory at all schools. “Most parents have the misconception that a lot of physical activities will make their daughters look manly. But martial arts is a life changing experience and every girl should learn it,” he says.