Siddhant Chaturvedi on shaving off kilos to attain urbane look for Shakun Batra's next that is expected to go on floors next month
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; August 28, 2020)

Siddhant Chaturvedi had a busy 2020 charted out before the pandemic disrupted his plan. Amid buzz that he will kick off the shoot of Shakun Batra's yet-untitled drama in Goa in September — six months after it was originally scheduled to roll — the actor says he has been toiling away at his home gym for the past eight weeks to achieve a lean frame for the movie.

"I have to look like a Dharma boy," he chuckles, before adding, "My character in Bunty Aur Babli 2 is that of a boy-next-door and has a desi flavour. In Shakun's film, I play an urban and contemporary character. I weighed 84 kilos when doing Bunty Aur Babli 2, and had to shed four kilos to fit into the part Shakun envisioned me in."

Even as the physical prep has brought him a step closer to inhabiting the character, Chaturvedi says the workshops conducted in March with co-stars Deepika Padukone and Ananya Panday helped him understand the universe of domestic noir — a genre that has rarely been explored in Hindi cinema. "Before the lockdown, we had readings with Shakun and the cast. We sat together and cracked the zone that the film was set in. We had started doing our homework for the parts."

After the Karan Johar production, the actor is expected to headline an action film that will reportedly be helmed by Mom director Ravi Udyawar. "That is one of our passion projects because fronting an action film is every guy's dream. I aim to touch 78 kilos for the actioner. The good thing is the lighter I am, the fitter I am."