/> Oh, the things actors do to get a role right.

Gone are the days when a diminutive Salman Khan could be shown beating up guys twice his size.

Now the fights have to look equal and convincing.

For the climactic battle in Apoorva Lakhia's Mission Istanbul the reed-thin Zayed Khan put on 11 kgs of sheer muscle bringing his weight up to a never-before 75 kgs, to combat the film's bad man Niketan Dheer who's 6-feet-4-inches tall and weighs 86 kgs.

Zayed freaked out when he was told about the climactic situation and requirements.

"I suddenly had to weigh way beyond what I ever did. I had to match this guy. There's a lot for me at stake. One tends to do a lot of films before realizing you need to rejuvenate yourself. Mission Istanbul has juiced me out.

This project means a lot. And my director Apoorva Lakhia has pushed me to mey limit. Two days before our climax he came to me and gave me the picture of a 6-feet-4-inch guy who was built like a rock and who looked like a mountain.

With a straight face he told me I've to fight this guy and I've to look sinewy enough to look like his adversary. I thought Apoorva was joking. Since I play a journalist in the film I wondered why I need to do this. But my director was adamant."

Zayed built on his body to play a combative journalist.

"And to play the television journalist I studied the best in the business. This is the kind of project that spurs you into exploring new facets of your personality. I want to be known as an actor who prepares."