While the prospect of filmstars working long and hard to get the perfect body contours for their upcoming roles has now become quite the norm, one rarely hears of television stars striving for such bodily perfection. TV actor Mrunal Jain, however, seems to be setting the trend for the rest of the industry to follow. Insiders reveal that he worked extremely hard to give a flawless shot with his six pack abs for his character Sameer on Zee TV’s show, Hitler Didi. For a four minute shot, he deprived himself of salt and water for more than half a day, as he didn’t want to appear bloated on screen.
A strict Jain, Mrunal has built his body over a period of nine years and on a pure vegetarian diet that does not include eggs or mutton.
The actor reveals that the shooting schedule was tough for him as he couldn’t eat or drink as he normally does. In this particular scene, his character Sameer Diwan is shown working out, doing boxing, martial arts and push ups. “My character Sameer is frustrated at not getting his way and releases his pent up anger through boxing. Otherwise, he is a controlled person with has a tight leash on his emotions. But this scene is like a turning point for him where he vents his fury. It will be a raw, unadulterated, passionate scene,” he claims adding “When you deprive your body of food and water and work out, it turns red. I survived on three protein and granola bars and had just 300ml of water in 12 hours. The intensity needed for the scene was not just physical but heartfelt too.”
So impressed was the director with his actor’s dedication and the outcome of his hard work that the scene which was to be a minute and half initially, was extended to four minutes!