Rahul Bhatt praises Aamir's dedication for his upcoming film Dangal

Celebrity fitness trainer Rahul Bhatt has heaped praise on Aamir Khan for his dedication and perseverance which led him to achieve the dramatic physical transformation for his upcoming film “Dangal”.

In the upcoming sports-drama, Aamir, 51, gained weight to be 98 kilos for his role as Mahavir Phogat and then shed 20 kgs to play the young Phogat. Rahul, son of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, is bowled over by Aamir’s dedication.

“He is dedicated, he has got perseverance and patience. These are the characteristics which all great athletes have.  You have to be mentally strong to undergo that amount of training and he had that,” Rahul told PTI.

Aamir first gained weight for the role and weighed almost 98 kgs, when Rahul came on board for the next transformation.

“We had a couple of days here and there which were offs but there were no laid back days, it was serious work. He has that tunnel vision. When he is in that zone, there is no looking back. That’s an exceptional quality,” Rahul said.

The trainer divided the sessions into?training and diet aspects, which resulted in the superstar later weighing 73 kgs.

When asked if such contrast in weight gain and loss is dangerous, Rahul said,?”At his age, you are hormonally at a disadvantage. Then you have the pressure and burden of super stardom. It is not easy, it is very though. But we were all working towards a unified vision and have achieved it.”

The Nitesh Tiwari-directed film is the story of Haryana-based wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who trained his daughters Geeta and Babita to become wrestlers.

The biographical sports-drama will release on December 23.