Actor Varun Dhawan says he’s been a little down because his latest release ‘Kalank’ didn’t do as well as expected. “I’ll be honest, it (the lack of success) did hit me real hard. I didn’t know how to react to it. A lot of people told me ‘don’t show it’ but I don’t know how to do that. My friends though had my back,” Varun says. So the actor decided to spend his 32nd birthday, on 24 April, with two of his childhood buddies, Aman and Ankit, who’ve been with him through thick and thin. The trio jetted off to Thailand to train in Muay Thai or Thai boxing which uses eight limbs -- fists, elbows, knees and shins -- to attack one’s opponent. At the Rattachai gym in Phuket the three of them engaged with trainers in intense sessions over two days that involved kicking, punching and Thai martial arts. Varun even offered himself up to be kicked in the stomach for a total of 20 times by the trainers in order to build his resistance and core muscles. Though he looked in some considerable agony (on the video) after this particular session it seems to be Varun’s way of working off the steam. Of course, everyone knows that he works real hard on his films but during his off-time, too, he’s living up to the reputation of being a combatant!