Arjun Kapoor often shares posts about his fitness journey on social media. In fact, he recently shared pictures of his physical transformation and is in a happy space where his health is concerned. However, by his own admission, it has been tough to stay on course. The fight for him is not about flaunting a chiselled physique, but to stay healthy. In a chat with Bombay Times, he spoke about being vocal about his battle with obesity, staying focused and the exciting phase ahead where his career is concerned. Excerpts:

Well, I have been battling it since I can remember...waking up for the last 20 odd years with it. It’s not really been an easy task. People assume that when you lose weight, it’s done, but the tougher part is maintaining that. It’s never over. Even today, when I wake up every morning, I have to be conscientious and aware. My battle is very deep-rooted; I fight it every day with a smile on my face. There are some really bad days also. For anybody out there who needs inspiration, I am happy that I can inspire them, but I am as vulnerable as the next person. I am somebody who can put on weight by just breathing around food, so I have to be very aware of that. More than anything, I wanted to get fitter. I think I have now got back to being fit, taking care of my body, loving myself and valuing my body. I’d lost that ability to care for myself. I was so lost in work that I thought it would take care of itself. That’s what I wanted to remind them… that even if you gain weight, you can’t stop loving yourself. You have to try to lose weight for the right reasons, it can’t just be for the superficial part, which obviously exists.

At the end of the day, when you see that a virus can trap all of us in these circumstances, you realise how important your health is. Obesity leads to sugar issues, heart problems and blood pressure… the way food is looked at in our country, there’s always an excess. You have to realise how to take care of yourself.

To spread awareness, I think you have first to be aware of yourself how much you can do and how much you can achieve. I have done it very slowly and systematically like I did the first time. I am still at it. My hashtag says work in progress, and it will continue. I feel most people are like me. I do want to do a lot more, in due course, so it’s not easy to explain. With every passing day, I want to be able to build the belief that people who follow me or watch my work, or my Instagram account, realise that this is real. This problem exists within them and me. We have to tackle it. I would like to set up something way bigger and I am working towards it. I want to do something very concrete to make sure that the awareness spreads far and wide for young kids not to be affected, perhaps the way I did unknowingly, because I didn’t have the right information.

In recent times, my mind was very restless and that is when yoga came in. Finishing work, starting new work, shutdown of work and being stuck in between… all of that took a toll. I wanted to calm myself, and yoga helped me go back to meditating, breathing and just calming my mind. Also, I overthink a lot (smiles)… that’s how I function. Yoga helped me be still, just be in the moment and be awakened and blank for a bit. That’s something we all need from time to time not to be in the past or future but to just be in the present.

Definitely! It’s my most exciting phase. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined having such a unique mix. However, I’ve always tried to do it. When I was doing Mubarakan, I was also doing a Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar. I have always tried to mix it up. But yes, this is pushing it to a whole new level. Also, I get to work with fantastic actors like Tabu, Tara Sutaria, John Abraham, Radhika Madan, Kumud Mishra sir, Naseer sir and Bhumi Pednekar. It’s an exciting phase of collaborating with great minds, great producers, directors and actors.

Earlier, when my career began, many films that I signed were no-brainers when someone is starting out... like a double role with Aurangzeb and then movies like 2 States and Gunday. Meanwhile, Tevar was a home production. I wanted to be somebody who could dabble between a Finding Fanny and a Gunday, so I chose those. Today, when I am selecting a film, I am trying to do stuff that I have not done before, and subconsciously, in a strange sort of way, I am also trying to do things that I have got appreciation for. It’s a space where you select material where you want to push the envelope, but at the same time try to find some sort of overlap, where the audience has engaged with you in those spaces, albeit in a different story. I always liked doing all kinds of things; perhaps that’s my strength or weakness. Maybe, now I have found a slight logic behind choosing material that is unique and yet has a semblance of accepted tones.