Mumbai, Oct 29 (IANS): Actress Mrunal Thakur and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra have opened up candidly about the boxing drama 'Toofan' featuring Farhan Akhtar in the lead role along with Mrunal and Paresh Rawal.

The movie will have its world television premiere and director Mehra talks about doing this movie and the relevance of such sports-based films.

"While 'Toofaan' is a work of fiction, it derives a great deal of inspiration from real life, real people and real struggles and conflicts that I have witnessed and heard about. Moreover, boxing is a lonely sport. It screams of resilience, a sport that requires you to stand till the end, without getting knocked down - more like a metaphor for life."

He adds on the efforts to make the movie look authentic and realistic: "To make the viewing experience of the film authentic we have shot the film completely with real locations across Mumbai. You'll see the actors in a real cramped up setting with no air-conditioning or make-up areas. It was a unique shooting experience."

Mrunal who plays the role of a doctor, 'Ananya Prabhu' in the movie shares about her character and who is the motivational force behind 'Aziz Ali', a boxer played by Farhan Akhtar.

She says: "My inclination to work on 'Toofaan' was piqued by my drive to work with a sought-after director like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. On our first meeting, he was in the process of gauging my strengths for Ananya's character, of which I wasn't aware at the time. Her character is really positive, daring and bold - someone who constantly pushes 'Aziz' to keep going. I've grown immensely through her and I am honoured to have been given the chance to put myself in her shoes."

The world television premiere of 'Toofan' is on October 31 on Zee Cinema.