My commitment to the character led me to gain over 45kg for the film: Dhiraj MV
Filmmaker
Dhiraj MV
is all set for the release of his new
Kannada movie
,
Kapatanataka Sutradhari
, a
political satire
. He came up with the story in 2022, but it is only hitting the big screen next month because he took on a key role himself.
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'The movie's poster is of an obese man getting stuck under an elephant. Initially, I looked for someone who could play the role, but then I decided that it would be better if I did it myself.' The actor explains that he transitioned from being fit to gaining over 45 kg for the role over the next few years. 'I initially considered wearing a body suit to change my appearance, but I felt it would not look natural. So, I reached out to my trainer and asked him if he could help me put on weight, but in the right way so that it would be easier to lose it, once I'm done with the movie,' Dhiraj tells us.
'ONCE I CROSSED THE 100 KG MARK, I WAS ANXIOUS THAT I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO LOSE THE WEIGHT'
The actor notes that there were anxieties about reversing this weight gain. He says, 'There was a point in time when I worried about getting back to my ideal weight after the movie was done. Once I crossed the 100 kg mark, I expressed my concerns to my trainer, and we tried shedding some weight, just to see if it could be done. Now, I am working out to shed all the excess weight I've gained, and it's working out well, so far.'
I want to break conventional stereotypes when it comes to storytelling. An important character in a movie need not always be someone with a six-pack
Dhiraj
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