Acting is challenging. Whether it is shouting “dhinak dhin dha” at the top of your lungs for no particular reason ahead of the college nukkad performance, or being a professional Bolly-town actor, it’s tough. And it’s yet more difficult for the actors who have a certain role to portray on-screen which requires them to indulge in some demanding transformation. What’s an actor if they haven’t gained and lost 70 kilos of weight during the course of shooting a movie?
Here are some of the actors who went out of their way to prepare for their roles in films, and it’s INSANE.
1. Shahid Kapoor in Kabir Singh
Shahid went under vigorous transformation to achieve the look of an alcoholic, drug-addict doctor in the film. While during the initial part of the film, the actor portrayed the role of a medical student, he had to put on eight kilos and then lose 14 kilos for his character. Shahid took about two and a half months to grow the unkempt beard for the self-destructive portrayal.
2. Abhishek Bachchan in Bob Biswas
Abhishek is receiving rave reviews for his performance in the film Bob Biswas. For the film, he chose against prosthetics to look chubby and instead gained weight, which went up to 100-105 kilos. As the actor didn’t like the body movements with his fat suit, he worked hard on maintaining the physique for the entire shoot which got shut down due to lockdown. Earlier too, Abhishek has gained weight to fit into the character in movies like Guru and Big Bull.
3. Pratik Gandhi in Scam 1992-The Harshad Mehta Story
Pratik was loved for how he managed to pull off the role of Harshad Mehta in the series Scam 1992. But the body transformation wasn’t easy to pull off. The actor faced a lot of challenges while gaining the weight he was supposed to for the role. Moreover, he managed to get back into shape in a mere 58 days.
4. Kangana Ranaut in Thalaivii
Kangana for the film Thalaivii, in which she took on the role of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, also went under body transformation as she had to gain 20 kilos for the biographical drama. Moreover, as the actor had to get back into shape for her thriller film Dhaakad, she had to lose the weight within six months. Kangana revealed that the transformation messed up her body as she has got permanent stretch marks on her body.
5. Kriti Sanon in Mimi
As she had to portray a surrogate mother in the film, Kriti gained 15 kgs in two months for the film. Due to having gained weight, Kriti couldn’t shoot for any other projects, even months after the shoot for Mimi ended.
6. Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture and Bobby Jasoos
Vidya was roped in to play the character of South India actress Silk Smitha in the movie The Dirty Picture. She gained weight to fit into the role, and went on to receive a national award for her performance. In Bobby Jasoos, Vidya interacted with real-life female detectives to understand the role better, and even didn’t wash her hair for a week for a particular scene to make it look more authentic.
7. Varun Dhawan in Kalank
Although the film wasn’t received well at the box office, the performance of the actors in the film sure did. Varun also garnered praise for his portrayal. He began the preps of the body transformation an year earlier and gain the chiselled body. The actor even revealed that he battled several injuries while shooting for the film, but still managed to undergo the fitness training that involved heavy cardio and weight training.
8. Ranbir Kapoor in Sanju
Ranbir nailed the on-screen portrayal of actor Sanjay Dutt in the latter’s biographical film Sanju, but it wasn’t easy. The actor went through an enormous body transformation to fit into the role of Sanjay Dutt through various stages in his life, and would even call Sanjay in the middle of the night to ask him what and how he would tackle in a particular situation.
9. Prabhas in Sahoo
Prabhas, best known for his role in the film Baahubali, has went through several transformations for his roles in movies. In Saaho, for his lean and muscular frame, he had to lose ten kilos to get into the character. He went through long-hour cardio sessions for the role that included swimming, cycling or playing volleyball.
10. Farhan Akhtar in Toofaan
Farhan had earlier impressed us all with his body transformation in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, and ye did it again with Toofaan. For his role of a boxer in the film, Farhan had to gain and then lose weight for different sequences in the film. He underwent 18 months of rigorous training to gain the chiseled body, and even worked hard for the bulked up look.
Kudos to these actors for putting in so much physical effort for the films we get to watch like a couch potato.