What’s it like for actors undergoing body transformations?

From Swara Bhaskar in Veere Di Wedding to Ranbir Kapoor in Shamshera to Swara Bhaskar in Veere Di Wedding, actors are often required to alter their bodies to suit on-screen characters. How do they gain 20 kilos, and then lose it all when the film is done?

In April this year, The Lunchbox actor Nimrat Kaur took to social media to share before-and-after photos of herself, showcasing the body transformation she underwent for Dasvi. While the left photo in the collage showed her with the weight she had put on for the film, the right one showed Nimrat after getting rid of it. Her caption read, “Weigh on it…Swipe left for my thousand words this picture won’t speak.”

The actor followed up this post with a lengthy note. She wrote, “In the age of heightened expectations regarding what we ‘should’ look like, at all times — gender, age and profession no bar, I’m sharing a small chapter from my life that brought with it learnings that shall last a lifetime.” Nimrat added that one needs to mind their own business when it comes to gaining and losing weight.

In July, actor Ranbir Kapoor opened up about undergoing physical transformation for his Shamshera, which released earlier this year. In a video posted by Yash Raj Films on Twitter, Ranbir said that the film’s director Karan Malhotra wanted a ‘worker’s body’. “This was physically tough to do. I am a thin guy. So to lose weight is very easy for me, but to put on muscle is harder. It’s very complicated. This whole body building business, it’s something which always confuses me but I guess it’s an occupational hazard,” he said in the clip.

Actors undergoing physical transformations for their films isn’t new, but now it seems like more artistes are openly talking about it and using social media to share their experiences. Priyanshu Painyuli, who altered his naturally lean frame to play stout conman Robin Agarwal in the 2020 web series Mirzapur 2, later transformed into a fit Captain Gagan Thakur for Rashmi Rocket.

The actor says that at times, transforming one’s body for a role shapes the personality of the character as well. “Robin in Mirzapur was an easy change, but in Rashmi Rocket, I played an Army officer who had an athletic background. The idea was not to bulk up, but to be really fit,” he says, adding how his trainer Rayo Jilla planned a routine to make the body transformation possible in 12 weeks.  

Vineet Kumar Singh, who bulked up to play aspiring boxer Shravan Kumar Singh in 2017’s Mukkabaaz, was also in the news recently for gaining 10 kilograms to look convincing as the gangster-turned-politician Haroon Shah Ali Baig in the web show Rangbaaz 3. “If the role demands it, it helps to immerse in the character so it looks believable, and you look different from your previous work,” says Vineet.

Film requirements aside, such drastic changes in one’s weight ought to be done with the help of a trainer, and that is exactly what Swara Bhasker did for her recent film Jahaan Chaar Yaar. She played a mother in the movie and chose to be on the heavier side. “I didn’t try to lose weight before shooting, which is something that you generally try to do... get into shape for a role,” she says, adding how her trainer Rohan Sawant helped her in every step of the way.