Sahil Khattar, actor and YouTuber who shot to the limelight after he essayed the role of Syed Kirmani in 83, shattered all of his diet restrictions in a recent visit to his hometown, Chandigarh – where he returned after three years for a shoot. “I had not eaten roti for 25 days in preparation for a role. But when in Chandigarh, how can I not eat roti?” he said.

Commenting on his beefing up, he said while he is ecstatic at social media comments turning from “nice” to “hot” on his pictures, his childhood was not as encouraging. “I was very puny and not good looking as a kid and was never identified as my parents’ son,” he laughs, adding, “Then I went bald at 21 and hit a low point because of some other issues. I never got any attention from girls and was not the popular guy in college. I confronted others to put on a false show of superiority. That’s when my dad told me, ‘when you are going through something that feels like a liability, think of it as an asset’. And I made my baldness a template and stood out, because I looked different. Because I am owning all that has been done to me in childhood, I can proudly say that life has changed.”

Gaining muscle wasn’t a task for him due to his athletic background. “I used to play roller hockey and had won a bronze medal in Asian games, so athletics comes naturally to me. I was doing 200 squats a day for the role in '83. If after Jennifer Lopez a butt needed insurance, it should be mine!”