The actor talks about fitness, fat shaming and why it’s important to have a positive body image
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; June 25, 2019)

Arjun Kapoor, who is working hard on his physique for the upcoming film Panipat, had recently shared his thoughts about his struggle with obesity on social media. He tweeted, “It’s been a tough journey for me ever since I was a kid when it comes to my battle with obesity. Everyone has their own struggles. I have had and continue to have mine. But the whole point of life is that we fall, we get back up and try again... efforts will pay off eventually, if not today then in a week month or even a year (sic)...”

In a chat with BT a while ago, the actor shared his thoughts on his fight to fitness and the constant pressure celebrities face to look good.

“As far as trolling me for my weight is concerned, anyone who has been through a journey of weight loss, weight gain and health issues will know how hard it is. Millions of people go through this every single day. It’s just that we are in the public space. The big screen gives you an illusion of fitness and what the world should be like, as everyone looks like models on screen. But that is not real beyond a point. A lot of effort, money and time go into looking that way. It’s important to be healthy. If you can’t encourage and be supportive, you have no right to put people down for trying to be better healthwise, forget aesthetic-wise. Iski shakl aisi hai, height waisi hai, patla hai, mota hai... tum apne aap ko dekh lo yaar,” he said.

Many of Arjun’s colleagues, including Hrithik Roshan, Varun Dhawan and Tiger Shroff, sport six-pack abs — the supposed benchmark of a great body, as far as a man is concerned. When asked about the inevitable comparison, Arjun explained, “No matter how good your body is, it all boils down to whether your films are working or not. Hrithik Roshan is successful for his performance on screen, not for the abs he has. I feel that Tiger is liked more for his vulnerability and action skills. He seems like a man, who will go all out to protect his woman, and he is brilliant at action and dancing. Varun is a fantastic entertainer. As an actor, you need to work towards such achievements, instead of solely looking at your body type. I don’t think that the audience is so silly ke jiski body achchi hai usiki picture chalti hai. I showed my abs in Ishaqzaade (2012), but it doesn’t mean that the film worked because of my abs. It worked because it was a good film. I agree that you should always aspire to look your best, and I try to do that every day. If I have to, I will work towards building my body for a certain film, but I don’t ever feel ki main alag hoon, mera kya hoga? There’s a place for everybody. Today, if you ask me to take my shirt off and stand in front of the camera, I will do that. I have no qualms about how I look. I know that I look fine. But if I compare myself to Tiger, well, 99% of people won’t look good in front of him as far as their body is concerned. That can’t be my yardstick. He is special and we appreciate that.”

When pointed out that actors face immense pressure to look good all the time, and a lot of that stems from what transpires on social media, Arjun reasoned, “Social media is the place where actors want to look a certain way. Today, films have gone beyond looks, you no longer see boys wearing leather jackets and riding bikes on screen. Your personal life, social media, and other events... that’s your chance to dress up and have fun. Many of us don’t take it so seriously; there’s no pressure, it is something that you enjoy as a celebrity. We have created these monsters like... the airport look, travel style and gym look. We want that part of our lives to be highlighted because that’s a part of our image, PR and branding. Films do not need you to look a certain way anymore. Look at some examples in the last 10-15 years. I am one of them. I am not conventional. I am not a clean shaven gora chitta guy next door who is doing romcoms. There’s a distinction. When you are playing a role in a film, you can’t worry about how you are looking. You have to go and play the character the way he is supposed to be. But in your personal life, you can play it up or keep it simple. It is your choice.”

Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; May 20, 2016)

Arjun Kapoor on weighty matters
Upala KBR (DNA; April 18, 2016)


Having been overweight once, are you paranoid about putting on that extra kilo today?
I have to be. I have fluctuated a lot in the last couple of years because of my own health issues. We have our own phases in life. Even actors are human beings so we have issues to deal with — physical, emotional and mental. I had one of those years where I had to recover. So yes, though I have that fear of putting on weight, I can’t stop living my life because of that fear. I work very hard in the gym. Sometimes, I come home very late around 1 am, but still I go and work out at the gym. I don’t ever stop. I try and work out at least six times a week with my trainer because that’s important for my body type which is so different from a typical Indian boy. I am so broad and big-structured that even two kilos on me can look like gaining 10 kilos and losing two kilos can also look like shedding 10 kilos. So I am in a strange predicament. I have always been considered to be broader and bigger so I have to be extra careful which I am okay with, as it’s part of the profession, but I don’t lose sleep over it. I have some faith in the fact that I have lost 50 kgs in four years, so I know my job about going about being healthy and I have done it in a very clean and good way, so I am very clear that I can do this. The body can try and stop you when you are very tired but you keep pushing and the results do come. I have seen that in that four-year phase. If you are patient your body reaps results, if not today then tomorrow or the next day. You just have to keep at it every day without stopping. You shouldn’t give up. Now I don’t get into that phase that if I eat one thing I will keep eating because I can’t lose the weight. If I have eaten a meal outside and have one bad night, the next day morning I will be on the treadmill to make sure that I burn those calories.

Tell me about doing pilates.
I started doing pilates because of injuries I sustained after Tevar and there was no solution unless I stopped physical activity. People would say, ‘You need to rest’, but that’s not an option for an actor. I found a better solution. Pilates is almost like undergoing rehab because you are improving your core — the smaller muscles that are not worked on in the gym on a regular basis. It strengthens you from within, from the deepest layer and that is very difficult. I do it once or twice a week as I can’t take out more time unfortunately. It’s very difficult, especially for a man. I wish I had gotten into it earlier, when I was 22-23, as my flexibility would have been better today.

I didn’t realise you had suffered so much in the last couple of years…
(Laughs) Nobody realises these things. I had a lot of cervical and neck issues. I used to suffer from vertigo because I had a cervical problem. Pilates has helped me open up, helped my posture, I also had a lot of issues with my shoulder… Pilates helps in all of this especially with your posture — the way you walk and stand, your movements… Now I am fine. The vertigo hasn’t come back for over a year. It started during the end of the shoot of 2 States. I shot Tevar with the cervical problem. Imagine shooting for an entire action film like that. Those are the things that one shouldn’t ignore. Now I have realised that I shouldn’t ignore the signs my body sends me. Now I put in that extra half an hour in a day to make sure that I am taking care of my body because I was in a very bad place. I have done four action films out of six, which were mostly physically gruelling. I am the only actor in my generation who has done so much of action and that took a toll on my body. When you are young you don’t realise what you are doing — falling, jumping, etc. You don’t want to say no to any action or use a body double or warm up, but just do it and I paid the price for that. All my directors used to caution me to be careful and warm up before the action scenes, stretch, use body doubles, but I would refuse because the excitement of becoming an actor was so much. So after Tevar I realised ki thoda sa time leke yeh sab masti karoonga, but I need to sort my body out before I get back into pushing myself.

You had the nickname Fubu as a kid. Was it because you were overweight?
(Laughs) I grew into the nickname and it just got stuck. For Us By Us (Fubu) is a brand in USA that makes jersey wear. It was a very cool brand back in the day. I used to wear only those jerseys and go hang with my friends. Actually, Ranbir (Kapoor) and two other friends of mine Tushar and Ishaan gave me this nick. Ranbir, Abhishek (Bachchan) and Karan (Johar) still call me Fubu. I was an AD on the sets of Kal Ho Naa Ho and I had a friend of mine, Ravi Chopra’s son Kapil, who was with me and used to call me Fubu on the sets. Then Karan started calling me that… I am okay with the nick as I find it quite sweet. They keep telling me that if I ever start my own production company, I should call it Fubu Films.

You did many stunts in the reality show you hosted (Khatron Ke Khiladi - Kabhi Peeda Kabhi Keeda) as well, right?
I was so excited that I went there and did what they wanted me to. I was like a child in a candy shop. When I shot for it, I was the most excited child in the world. They were taking me to Argentina for six weeks for a show where I got to do stunts, have animals around me, cars, bikes, helicopters — it was like a dream come true for me and I loved the experience. I am really happy that the channel is happy with the output as it’s a hit new target audience. It’s one of the coolest shows on Indian TV. Their safety levels are top notch. I was busy but I would keep fit by going for a long walk or go for a run in the middle of a stunt with my trainer because that was the only way. We would shoot 16-17 hours in a day. There were a lot of fit and inspiring boys also like Vivaan (D’Sena) and Siddharth (Shukla) on the show and whenever we would get an off, we would work out in the gym together. They were a good bunch of people and also fitness-conscious.