One of the reasons why actors feel the need to put themselves to test is the ongoing shift in perception. Earlier, physical attributes hardly made any difference. Small surprise why everyone from those with visible paunches to those with a skeletal structure were screen idols adored immeasurably by general public. There was no question of requesting them to `do their bit` for a character. With the exposure they have vis-a-vis global cinema, whatever's happening as a consequence is a healthy trend.
Today, we have a 48-year-old Shah Rukh Khan sporting sculpted abs as long as it's a script requirement. On the other end, a theatre personality like Neeraj Kabi got rid of 17 kg to portray a suicidal Jain monk in Ship of Theseus. Similarly, there is Vineet Kumar Singh who lost 15 kg to essay someone so thin that he could `walk through the rain without getting wet` in Gangs of Wasseypur. Even Karan Johar is losing flab for his acting debut in Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet.
What's worth noting is that Kabi took four months to achieve the emaciated physique required for the Anand Gandhi film and two months more to regain his normal contours. He underwent lightweight training and daily Pranayam to make sure his muscles remain intact and there is minimum tissue/ligament damage. `It was not an advisable move because I was 42 at the time and doctors were very skeptical about losing weight. But then, when you are in that zone with an amazing character in your hand, nothing else matters. I even turned vegetarian although it wasn't required,` says the 45-year-old actor who recently lost nine kg to play Mahatma Gandhi in Shyam Benegal's Samvidhan.
Not everybody is a 'loser' though. Some gained too. Emraan Hashmi overcame inhibitions to exhibit his acting chops in Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai. The actor was evidently out-of-shape in the film. What Anil Kapoor managed to do with Badhaai Ho Badhaai more than a decade ago was remarkable. So was Abhishek Bachchan's decision to go full hog for Guru. Their turning fat for their films was as memorable as their shedding flab later.
Even the newbie Varun Sharma of the Fukrey fame was asked to put on weight so he `ate after waking up and then slept only to wake up in the middle and eat again` so as to look like the way he did in the sleeper hit. Fitness trainer Abbas Ali focusses on the side effects. `This ongoing fad has its roots in Hollywood. A majority of them would do anything to their body to make sure their performance is enhanced. But what we forget is they take a linear scientific approach towards their diet. A lot of methods employed are open-ended. An actor in Bollywood might follow a healthy regime but there's always that margin of irrecoverable error,` adds Abbas.
All things shed and undone, health experts warn against taking shortcuts. Nonetheless, Bollywood actors seem to know what they are doing. The same can't be said about their female counterparts though. When Vidya Balan or Sonakshi Sinha - or for that matter, Huma Qureshi - turns wafer thin to essay an once-in-a-lifetime role, then there might be a case. Or if Sonam Kapoor is asked to gain some unfashionable flab for a change. Remember how everybody reacted to Kareena Kapoor's size zero avatar in Tashan? Perhaps it wasn't hard to accept that her physical makeover had very little to do with her role in that forgettable film. Or was it?
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