The Khuda Haafiz actor tells FPJ the casting search went global before producers settled on him, and recalls sharing a set with Jason Momoa, 50 Cent and Roman Reigns.
Vidyut Jammwal's Hollywood debut didn't happen by accident, and it didn't happen quickly either.
In an exclusive chat with The Free Press Journal, the actor laid out how he ended up playing Dhalsim, the yoga-flexible, fire-breathing fighter from the Street Fighter video game universe, in the franchise's upcoming live-action film. According to Jammwal, the production had a wish list of performers before casting even began, and getting everyone to agree wasn't simple. He pointed to 50 Cent, cast as Balrog, and Noah Centineo, playing Ken, as two names American audiences initially pushed back on, with some feeling Centineo was boxed into romantic roles.
The search for an actor who could do the physical side of things eventually led to India, and to Jammwal.
He told FPJ the director didn't rely on a quick scroll through his filmography or a YouTube binge of old interviews. Instead, he said the director watched a stack of his films to actually understand who he was before they ever spoke. A phone call followed, and given Jammwal's background in martial arts, the makers apparently didn't need much more convincing.
A set full of wrestlers and one very memorable hairstyle
Ask Jammwal what it was like working alongside Jason Momoa, 50 Cent and Roman Reigns, and he doesn't hold back. He described the experience as having "10 legends on the set every day," calling out Cody Rhodes specifically, hairstyle included, as proof of how surreal the whole shoot felt. These, he said, weren't just actors playing athletes. Reigns, Rhodes and the rest do this for a living, which changed the texture of every day on set.
The prep itself sounds less like a gym regimen and more like an arcade hangout. Jammwal said there was no separate training module built around the role. Instead, since the film is adapted from the game, the production kept arcade machines running on set so the cast could play whenever they wanted, in costume, as their characters. He said understanding each fighter's moves and powers came from actually competing against co-stars on those machines, which he described as feeling like stepping into a world of fantasy.
Jammwal also used the conversation to circle back to something he's said before, that stillness has a place even in a career built on constant physical reinvention. He referenced a three-hour standing meditation in ice as a tribute to Bodhidharma, the monk credited with carrying Kalaripayattu from India to China, and used it to make a point about youngsters spending too much time on screens instead of sharpening actual skills.
Street Fighter now carries an ensemble that spans WWE, hip-hop and Indian martial arts cinema, a combination nobody would have predicted a few years ago. What's still unclear is when Indian audiences get a release date, and how big a push the film gets here given Jammwal's involvement. That detail hasn't surfaced yet.
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