Salva Mubarak Senior Features Writer

Drastic body transformation for movie roles comes with the territory of being an actor, along with red carpet appearances and the knowledge that you will never be as popular as Taimur Ali Khan with the paparazzi. It’s just something you have to make your peace with. Recently, leaked photos from the sets of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s upcoming film Pathan revealed the actor’s eight-pack abs in all their glory. Later, Khan shared a photo on Twitter, confirming that he has transformed into a lean, mean, muscled machine for the movie.

This is not the first time SRK has flaunted his ab-generation skills to the world. In 2007, the actor popularised the trend of having a set of six-pack abs on-screen when he appeared shirtless in the song ‘Dard-E-Disco’ in the movie Om Shanti Om.

When we spoke to actress Kriti Sanon’s physical trainer for her upcoming film Ganpath Part 1, the workout instructor revealed that Sanon has begun weight training to look the part of an action heroine and has been putting in long hours at the gym.

Here are seven more celebrities who underwent major physical transformations for movie roles….

Aamir Khan for Dangal

Known for always going the extra mile for his roles, Aamir Khan reportedly gained 96 kgs for the movie Dangal. The actor then had to come down to 68 kgs in a short time to look the part of a younger version of his character. Even though he was applauded for his efforts, he made sure to clarify that this process is very unhealthy and urged his fans to not follow his example.

Ranveer Singh for 83

Ranveer Singh was recently praised for his depiction of former Indian cricket team captain Kapil Dev in the movie 83. With clever make-up and prosthetics, the actor managed to look like the legendary cricketer, but still had to go through rigorous training to transform himself physically. In an interview, the actor revealed that since he was just coming off the shoot for Simmba, where he played a larger-than-life cop, he had to lose most of his bulked-up muscle weight to look like Dev. Singh shared that he played cricket four hours a day for six months straight and went through intense physical conditioning to successfully portray the legendary cricketer in the movie.

Rajkummar Rao for Bose and Trapped

Actor Rajkummar Rao apparently went on a diet of one cup of black coffee and two carrots a day for 22 days to prepare for his role in Trapped. In the movie, Rao’s character gets stuck on the roof of a high-rise building with no sustenance and had to look starved. Right after this, the actor had to gain 11 kgs, by binge-eating greasy junk food, for the titular role in Bose.

Bhumi Pednekar for Dum Laga Ke Haisha

For her debut movie Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Bhumi Pednekar played the role of an overweight woman, for which she had to gain 30 kgs over a period of six months. In previous interviews, the actress had revealed that she used to eat rich foods, like butter chicken, for breakfast when she was trying to gain all that weight for the movie. The actress then had to lose 35 kgs after the movie to get back in shape.

Hrithik Roshan for Super 30 and War

Hrithik Roshan shared the process of getting into shape for the action movie War, where he spoke about the difficult journey he had to go on to gain back his washboard abs and muscles for the movie. Before this, the actor had been shooting for Super 30 where he played the role of a middle-aged teacher, the opposite of a ripped, action hero. Consequently, the actor had gained weight for the role, even developing a prominent paunch for the character. Anyone who has seen War can vouch for the fact that the actor went through a LOT to become the rugged military hero on-screen.

Randeep Hooda for Sarabjit

To play the role of an emaciated Prisoner of War in Sarabjit, Randeep Hooda went from 94 kgs to 66 kgs in a span of 28 days. To achieve this shocking, and scarily unhealthy, transformation, the actor consumed only 500-600 calories a day. In an interview, he shared that there were days when he couldn’t even walk, or even sleep, because of this.

Farhan Akhtar for Toofan

While the actor is no stranger to going through intense training regimes to prepare for movie roles, Farhan Akhtar had to work extra hard to look the part of a former boxer in Toofan. In an interview, the actor opened up about how he had to adopt a lifestyle that was completely contrary to his lifestyle when he had to indulge in high consumption of fats, carbs, starch, and fried foods and reduce his physical activities to look the part of an out-of-shape, older man.