Considered one of Bollywood’s most eligible bachelors, Aditya Roy Kapur is among the fittest actors of his generation. And while he enjoys all the attention he gets from the ladies, he admits that it isn’t easy to maintain that level of fitness, what we’d call ‘hotness quotient’. In a quick tête-à-tête, the actor reveals what goes into looking the way he does, the appreciation he got for his OTT debut and more. Excerpts...

While he’s undeniably good-looking and loves the compliments coming his way from fans, Aditya confesses that he’s quite critical about his own self. “We are all so critical of ourselves and we constantly feel... oh, I am fat, oh, I am this, I am that, when actually others feel that you are looking just fine. So, it is all about perspective, right? I am like anybody else. I have my days when I don’t feel good about myself or feel unattractive. I don’t have a six-pack all the time! Also, because I am tall, everything else gets distributed (on my body). I might appear very fit, but I am not that fit all the time. I am constantly feeling like I need to lose weight. I have self-doubts like anyone else has. Having said that, the compliments I get are flattering. At least all the hard work and the dieting has some upside to it (laughs)!”

Ask Aditya, if there’s anything he would like to change about his body and pat comes his reply, “I want to change my metabolism. There are some people who are blessed where they can eat whatever they want, and they don’t put on weight. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with me. If I eat, I put on weight instantly. It is tough to stay in shape, especially for someone who’s a foodie. I have to be extremely disciplined if I have to be in shape. If I lose track and cheat for 3-4 days in a row, I try and get back in shape in the next 10 days. Earlier, I used to put on 15 kilos and then get busy losing those 15 kilos. But as you get older, more than physically, it is mentally taxing to be that extreme. So, it’s better to keep a watch on my food intake.”

As an actor, you are always under pressure to look good, but if a character demands that I have to look overweight or not flaunt a chiselled body, I am absolutely okay with it. In fact, in my repertoire of movies, I have done films that did not focus on my physical attributes like Kalank, Ludo, Daawat-e-Ishq and I definitely want to continue to do that, otherwise, I will get bored looking a certain type all the time.”

The actor won a lot of praise for his OTT debut, The Night Manager, in fact, with the series he has grabbed more eyeballs than ever before. “I don’t know if it’s ‘the most’ (I’ve been appreciated), but I definitely feel appreciated. The appreciation and acclaim have been heartwarming. I feel at various junctures in your career a project comes along which cuts across and crosses over. Back in the day, a project that changed things for me was Aashiqui 2. I won a lot of love and appreciation for that film. I feel Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was quite special too. So yes, I have had such special projects in my career, and it is really nice to savour these as an actor,” he says.