Vidyut Jammwal has never been the type to bite his tongue, and his latest observation about India's oldest martial art is no exception. The action star, who has spent the better part of his career throwing his body into roles that most actors wouldn't touch with a stunt double, says he's noticed something slightly awkward about the way kalaripayattu gets treated abroad versus back home - and he isn't shy about saying it out loud.
According to Jammwal, the foreign stars he's crossed paths with often arrive at conversations about the ancient Kerala-born discipline better briefed than plenty of people who grew up surrounded by it. His blunt take: Hollywood names "know more about kalaripayattu than many Indians." It's the kind of line that lands with a thud, mostly because it's hard to argue with. Kalaripayattu, frequently described as one of the oldest surviving fighting systems on the planet, gets name-dropped in gyms and documentary voiceovers overseas while plenty of folks in its own birthplace couldn't tell you the difference between a meipayattu stance and a warm-up stretch.
Jammwal's comments come as he turns his attention toward "Street Fi," a project that has him back in the space he occupies most comfortably - bare-knuckle action with a body count and a message. It's a lane he has basically owned since breaking out with the Commando films, and it's a lane he clearly wants to widen rather than abandon.
A Lifetime of Kalaripayattu Before It Was Cool
For Jammwal, this isn't a press-junket talking point. He's been vocal about his kalaripayattu background for years, crediting it with everything from his conditioning to his ability to fall off buildings without dying. What frustrates him, by the sound of it, is the asymmetry - the way a tradition can be exported, repackaged and studied with near-academic devotion in Los Angeles or London while remaining, for many Indians, a vague bit of heritage trivia wheeled out during cultural festivals.
There's an irony worth noting. Jammwal was born into a family that embraced kalaripayattu as a daily practice, which meant he grew up thinking of it less as a heritage exhibit and more as a routine, like brushing your teeth but with more lunging and weapon work. That personal history is a big part of why his action choreography looks different from the average Bollywood brawl. There's a groundedness to it - low stances, close-quarters control, a lot of grabbing and redirecting rather than the flamboyant spinning kicks that dominate most mainstream fight scenes. Whether audiences consciously clock the kalaripayattu DNA is another question, but it's there in the footwork.
The Overseas Enthusiasm He Keeps Running Into
The interesting wrinkle in Jammwal's observation is that he isn't dismissing foreign interest as appropriation. If anything, he seems to find their curiosity admirable, even humbling. The problem is the gap back home. When overseas performers, fight coordinators and stunt teams treat Indian martial traditions as serious technical disciplines worth years of study, it stings a little that the same traditions can be an afterthought in the country that created them.
It's a familiar pattern in pop culture. Yoga went global and became a billion-dollar wellness industry before many Indian households started treating it as anything more than an uncle's morning ritual. Ayurveda got rebranded into sleek supplements abroad. Kalaripayattu, by that logic, may just be waiting its turn - the next piece of subcontinental knowledge to get polished up elsewhere and shipped back with a premium price tag.
Jammwal, for his part, has done his share of missionary work. He's used interviews, social media and his own filmography to keep the art form visible, and he's been consistent about the idea that kalaripayattu isn't a costume or a gimmick - it's a complete system with its own philosophy, weaponry and progression.
What "Street Fi" Represents for Him
That's where "Street Fi" fits into the bigger picture. Even without a confirmed cast list or release details floating around, the title alone signals what Jammwal is going for: raw, street-level combat rather than glossy, wire-assisted spectacle. It's a natural extension of the brand he's built - the guy who does his own stunts, who trains like a fighter rather than a movie star, who treats action as a language rather than a marketing beat.
And if there's a thesis buried in his kalaripayattu comments, it's probably this: the knowledge is already here. It doesn't need to be validated by Hollywood, but it would be nice if more people at home realized what they're sitting on. Jammwal clearly has, and he's built an entire career out of reminding everyone else.
Whether "Street Fi" becomes another showcase for that philosophy remains to be seen. But if his track record means anything, expect the fights to look like they hurt - and expect him to keep talking about where they came from.
Source: The Times of India