‘When you are an actor, you’re actually paid to put on weight’
Kunaal Roy Kapur, whose claim to fame was the 2011 hit Delhi Belly, has since went on to appear in films such as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), Azhar (2016) and more recently Kaalakaandi (2017). The actor however has constantly kept transforming himself for his roles on screen.
“I was asked to put on 20kg for Delhi Belly. I was approximately 98kg then, but they wanted someone who was fatter. So, I had to put on 20kg,” he says about the time he was shooting for the film, although the actor is now back to a fitter self. “I was 118kg then, then I came down to around 92kg, between my last film Exit (2011) and the latest one 3 Dev, I have lost around 25kg,” says the 39–year-old.
Kapur feels being an actor is a motivation itself to pursue such transformations. “It is difficult but then you have a motivation, that is, you are doing it for a role. There are people dependent on you to do it, so you feel like you are committed to doing it. For actors, additionally, it is a part of their job. For normal people it becomes difficult because it is not a part of their working life. This phase that I go through (the weight loss period) I look at it as my work. That is the advantage that an actor has. When you are an actor, you’re actually paid to put on weight,” he says.
The actor has been part of a few web series before and is particularly excited about the online streaming platforms. “The web is a wonderful space and is a great way to tell stories and entertain. Films and the experience of watching in a dark theatre with strangers and sharing an experience will be around for a while. It isn’t going away, just might change in terms of what content is feasible for the screen and what we can watch within the comfort of our homes,” he explains.