SIX-PACK AT ANY AGE!

IF AGE MAKES YOUR METABOLISM SLUGGISH, IS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO GET SIX-PACK ABS? IT’S NOT, SAYS ACTOR ROHIT ROY, AND SHOWS YOU HOW YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

botoxed version of my childhood crush. But when I finally meet Rohit Roy, at the lobby of a posh Versova club, dressed in a pair of jeans and a casual tee, he isn’t looking a day older than his Doordarshan days... but definitely more chiseled! And he is bubbling with energy. As we sit down and I compliment him on reversing age, he reveals that he turned 50 on April 5 this year! I must have looked visibly shocked because he quips: “That reaction there was my goal!” and adds: “Most people think I got in shape for a movie. But I just wanted to be the fittest 50-year-old around! I want to turn 50 in style!” he chuckles.

The actor confesses he never took fitness seriously: “I never needed to put extra effort on my body. The last few years have not been great career-wise. And, even though my last film Kaabil (2017) was a hit, I didn’t land any interesting offers. Also, the film I wanted to direct was not taking off. I was so distressed that I started spending all my time at home or at parties. I started drinking a lot, which meant I put on weight. One day, my mom told me I looked fat. Now, my mom, like every Indian mom, always thinks her children should eat more. So, her comment really made me conscious about the weight gain,” he recalls.

The 74kg actor had become a whopping 92kg and couldn’t fit into his clothes. “Since I am 6-feet tall, it took me time to realise that the situation was so bad,” he says.

But that changed overnight. Literally! Thanks to a final push from Salman Khan.

“One day, after a few drinks, I started telling Salman Khan how I was not getting the kind of work I wanted. He stopped me midsentence and said: ‘You look like a fat cow! Even I won’t give you work’.”

“I was taken aback. When I tried to explain the weight gain was due to emotional stress, he said: ‘We all go through s**t at some point. You are not from Mars that everything will always be smooth in your life. But how you react to obstacles depends on you. You can either share your sob story with me or do something to change the situation…may be by hitting the gym at 7am tomorrow!’”

That’s exactly what Rohit did. But the journey from 92kg to 78kg has not been easy or quick. “It’s