Meet Max aka Sasha, a Belgian Malinois dog that attained stardom after HIT-2

Hyderabad: A new star is born in Tollywood. Hang on! Neither is he a hunk with six-pack abs nor is she a pretty actress who oozes oomph.

Introducing Sasha aka Max, the most fierce dog of the Belgian Malinois breed. Max has attained stardom after its role in the `HIT-2' movie.

Directed by Sailesh Kolanu, Max played a buddy of actor Adivi Sesh. Seth played the character of Krishna Dev (KD), SP of Andhra Pradesh CID in Visakhapatnam. In the movie, the actor is seen posted in CID's Homicidal Intervention Team (HIT).

The 2.5-year-old dog has been trained since childhood for the movie. According to Director Sailesh, Max was one of the friendliest dogs on the sets and best at receiving commands. "Max is one of the most memorable characters in my career. It was a stress buster on the sets and always ready for any takes during a scene", says Director.

Max can be seen helping KD in solving cases, especially in the climax scene in which it shows its investigative prowess.

Who is Max? Where did he get trained?

J Anand, the founder of Happy Dogs Boarding & Training School in Khanapur, Hyderabad, said Having been a dog lover since childhood, Anand worked in the banking sector for many years before he quit to start school for canines.

Traveling all over India, he found it hard to keep his dogs in the kennel. That is when he got the idea to start a school for boarding and training dogs. "I started the training school in 2012. I have 48 dogs of my own, and have trained around 12,000 dogs", said Anand.

From Arjun Reddy to HIT-2, Anand's trained dogs have acted in about 44 movies including RRR, Solo Brathuke So Better, and Akhanda. "Not just my dogs, I also give my clients' dogs to movie makers for shooting. There are times when customers ask their pets for the shoot. They feel excited to see their pets on the screens", said Anand.

Max- the protective dog

A very hyper and working line dog, Sasha from Bangalore was gifted to Anand by his friend. It all started when Anand gave his labrador to the moviemaker for HIT-1 starring Vishwaksen. "When Director Sailesh asked for my dogs for HIT-1, he saw Sasha aka Max, and asked if it could be trained for HIT-2. Sasha is my dog which is working for my protection. While its role in the movie is mostly as a friendly dog, it can be fierce when asked. It is more possessive about me and can attack anyone if I command", said Anand.

Like a bodyguard, Sasha travels with Anand wherever he goes. "We worked for two years on the movie. Director Sailesh and Adivi Sesh made sure that they spend time with Sasha so that it is comfortable shooting with them. It is a very quick learner and well-disciplined. It was very patient even after many retakes were taken for some scenes", said Anand.

A girl of Wall Poster Cinema's

Actor Nani who produced several superhit films under Wall Poster Cinema, including HIT-2, is now a fan of Sasha The movie team regularly visits Max and spends time at the training school. Max will likely be part of HIT-3 starring Nani as Arjun Sarkaar.