Bollywood actors seem to have no qualms about gaining or losing weight to suit their roles

Dedication is one thing and determination another And not many actors are able to employ both in their craft Tom Hanks is definitely one of them For his Oscarnominated role in Cast Away he gained several pounds to look like ldquoan average Americanrdquo and then promptly lost 25 kilograms to resemble a guy whorsquod make the filmrsquos title more convincing Ranveer Singh underwent a strict regime to bulk up for Goliyon Ki Rasleela RamLeela Even Christian Bale accomplished something similar for The Machinist In fact he set the world record by shedding nearly 28 kg in order to fit the insomniac character he portrayed Michael Fassbender followed suit with his Irish rebel who refused to eat and went on a strike in Hunger Thatrsquos not it Some gained weight as well Russell Crowe turned pudgy with a raise of 29 kg in Body of Lies At a relatively lower range George Clooney put on 16 kg for Syriana while Matt Damon piled on 14 kg for The Informant Hollywood is filled with such actors willing to push themselves to the extreme simply to upgrade a role Well they have company nowu00a0 Farhan Akhtar dedicated two years to get the character of Milkha Singh right Bollywood actors nowadays not only prefer growing their own moustache or beard but also are quite open to the idea of experimenting with their body types However apart from Vidya Balan not a lot can be said about the present actresses since they seldom let the weighing scale wander Coming back to the male actors itrsquos a pleasant change from how things used to be not very long ago Neeraj Kabi shed 17 kgs for Ship of Theseus In the second half of the 20th century when Hindi film industry blossomed it was a rarity to witness a shirtless actor Even in a movie And then Dharmendra walked along in Phool Aur Patthar 1966 to show us how itrsquos done But then he had the physique to go with Not many of his contemporaries could claim so Small surprise why actors remained covered while their voluptuous female counterparts kept pushing the sartorial boundaries Method acting understandably wasnrsquot in vogue As a result the concept of losing or gaining weight remained pretty much alien to Hindi cinema But that was then Emraan Hashmi put on weight for his act in Shanghai Recently Ranveer Singh bulked up for his part in Sanjay Leela Bhansalirsquos 39Goliyon Ki Rasleela RamLeela39 The actor who gained some pounds for his last release 39Lootera39 trained for months on end to ascertain his ripped muscles and sixpack abs are prominently displayed in it Aamir Khanrsquos physique in the trailer of his upcoming heist movie 39Dhoom 339 is a far cry from the chubby Rancho of 393 Idiots39 Hrithik Roshan went through a strict regimen to build the kind of body his team thought would suit a superhero in 39Krrish 339 Farhan Akhtarrsquos features in 39Bhaag Milkha Bhaag39 overshadowed the lanky Milkha Singh of his youth by miles to be precise for a certain amount of cinematic impact But whorsquos complaining Youngsters entering the industry today believe itrsquos a prerequisite to have a chiselled body Be it Arjun Kapoor or Sidharth Malhotra or Sushant Singh Rajput or Varun Dhawan Whatrsquos more interesting is their appetite to keep reservations out of the window Saqib Saleem of the 39Bombay Talkies39 fame approves of the ongoing development The 25yearold gushes ldquoIrsquom completely game for any such physiquerelated challenges In fact thatrsquos what I love about my profession If a script demands that I cut my hair or lose weight or gain some Irsquom all for itrdquo 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 ldquodo their bitrdquo for a character With the exposure they have visagravevis global cinema whateverrsquos happening as a consequence is a healthy trend Today we have a 48yearold Shah Rukh Khan sporting sculpted abs as long as itrsquos 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 39Ship of Theseus39 Similarly there is Vineet Kumar Singh who lost 15 kg to essay someone so thin that he could ldquowalk through the rain without getting wetrdquo in 39Gangs of Wasseypur39 Even Karan Johar is losing flab for his acting debut in Anurag Kashyaprsquos 39Bombay Velvet39 Whatrsquos 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 tissueligament damage ldquoIt 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 wasnrsquot requiredrdquo says the 45yearold actor who recently lost nine kg to play Mahatma Gandhi in Shyam Benegalrsquos 39Samvidhan39 Not everybody is a lsquoloserrsquo though Some gained too Emraan Hashmi overcame inhibitions to exhibit his acting chops in Dibakar Banerjeersquos 39Shanghai39 The actor was evidently outofshape in the film What Anil Kapoor managed to do with 39Badhaai Ho Badhaai39 more than a decade ago was remarkable So was Abhishek Bachchanrsquos decision to go full hog for 39Guru39 Their turning fat for their films was as memorable as their shedding flab later Even the newbie Varun Sharma of the 39Fukrey39 fame was asked to put on weight so he ldquoate after waking up and then slept only to wake up in the middle and eat againrdquo so as to look like the way he did in the sleeper hit Fitness trainer Abbas Ali focusses on the side effects ldquoThis 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 openended An actor in Bollywood might follow a healthy regime but therersquos always that margin of irrecoverable errorrdquo 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 canrsquot be said about their female counterparts though When Vidya Balan or Sonakshi Sinha or for that matter Huma Qureshi or Parineeti Chopra turns wafer thin to essay an onceinalifetime 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 Kapoorrsquos size zero avatar in 39Tashan39 Perhaps it wasnrsquot hard to accept that her physical makeover had very little to do with her role in that forgettable film Or was it