Saiyami Kher has always been an actor with a difference. That has not only reflected in the unconventional projects she has done so far — starting right from her debut film Mirzya, directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra — but also in her life beyond acting. An avid sports fan as well as one who plays a variety of sport, Saiyami is now ready to take on one of her most challenging roles yet.

Come September, the 32-year-old actor will take off to Germany to participate in the Ironman Triathlon. Widely considered as one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world, the Ironman Triathlon includes a 3.9km swim, a 180.2km bicycle ride and a 42.2km run in quick succession. With about a month left for her big (make that, huge) challenge, t2 chatted with Saiyami.

Less than two months to go for the Ironman Triathlon! What are the emotions like?

It is a little more than 40 days away, so I do feel a little bit of nervousness. It is the kind of nervousness one feels the day before a film releases. I was brave enough to sign up for it (smiles). I have been very consistent with my training for six months, but I was down with viral fever last week. For the first time in six months, I had to take four days off from my training. And suddenly, I am super nervous thinking that I will have to restart from scratch. To do a half marathon right after cycling 100km suddenly feels very daunting. But I keep watching documentaries about people who have done crazy things and I tell myself: ‘It is no big deal. The world is doing so much more than what I am doing’ (smiles). So I put myself to sleep every night with that thought and then wake up and train again.

The only concern is that I am shooting all of August and so I have to be very intelligent with my training. I have to utilise my time well and ensure that I am still at it though I know it will not be at the level that I was at all these days.

Shooting and training for something as strenuous as this at the same time must be very stressful...

The mind and the body work in funny ways. On the first day I trained after my viral fever, I came back from shoot in the evening, sat on my couch and was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. I kept telling myself that the more I postpone getting on to my bike, the tougher it is going to be to restart. What happens with the human mind is that the negative forces can take over easily but it is just about letting that little bird on your shoulder tell you to start doing it. The minute I got on to my bike, all the tiredness went away and I was back on track.

You have always been into sport majorly. Was there a specific reason why you decided to sign up for Ironman?

I have done a couple of marathons and half-marathons. Ironman was always the next step for me. The honest truth is that endurance tests keep me sane. I could be in the middle of back-to-back shoots, there could be a hundred other things happening... but it is my physical training that proves to be the most calming for me. I manage to get into a better frame of mind when I put my body through this torture! (Laughs)

It is a reminder to me that if I set my mind to doing something, I can achieve it. Doing something so rigorous is just purely about the kind of victories which sometimes one can’t have in a profession or somewhere else.

These small victories mean a lot to me. The Ironman Triathlon is obviously the ultimate goal but even the training I have undergone all these months — which has told me what my body and mind can achieve when it is pushed — is a victory for me.

What are the drastic changes you have had to incorporate in your life while training for this?

I don’t have any other life anymore. I film for nine hours, I train the rest of the time and in Bombay, a lot of time is anyway spent in commuting. I have not met my friends in the last six months. I was always disciplined but now I really value the time I have in a day. On Sundays, I end up training for six hours which includes cycling 100km, then swimming, then running... and repeating the process.

Are there any lifestyle changes that you plan to continue with even beyond Ironman?

Most people tell me: ‘If you think this is the only Ironman that you will do, then you are highly mistaken’. It is actually quite addictive. I have already started thinking of what I want to do after Ironman, in the sense which is the next race that I want to sign up for. It gives me a goal and some kind of purpose which I like to wake up for every morning.

Also, I might go back to doing a full marathon because I want to better my time. I will definitely be changing certain targets every year but hopefully getting this one done first.

Has there ever been a point when you have wanted to give up?

Surprisingly, I have never felt like giving up. The same goes for my acting career. Even if the chips are down, I never want to give up.

With Ironman, I always knew what I had signed up for. I knew how gruelling this was going to be, physically and mentally. Sometimes, when my body is not in rhythm or is very tired, I listen to it. I will not continue that day but I will go back to it the next day. Yes, there have been certain days that have been very, very bad but at no point am I giving up. Also, I genuinely enjoy being in the pool, swimming, hitting those targets.....

You are currently shooting your Telugu film SDGM with Sunny Deol in Hyderabad. Would you count this as a totally different experience from the films you have done so far?

It is very, very different. It is always nice to shake yourself out of your comfort zone. This is exciting because it is something that I haven’t done before. The scale of the film is something which I haven’t seen in my career so far. Even after being in films for seven years, it feels like a whole new experience.

Which roles, so far, have challenged you the most and have been the most creatively satisfying?

It is a tough toss-up between Choked (directed by Anurag Kashyap) and Ghoomer (directed by R. Balki). Both the films took a lot out of me. Ghoomer (in which she played a physically-challenged cricketer) took a lot out of me physically and emotionally and Choked was completely out of my comfort zone. Both the films were extremely liberating.

Ghoomer taught me a lot about myself and it will probably be the most special film I have done so far. I get very attached to the projects I do. It will soon be a year to Ghoomer’s release but the film is still very much a part of my system. And Choked taught me a lot about myself as an actor.