Actor Imran Khan shared yet another post on Instagram, talking about his battle with body image issues, when he used to regularly work in movies.
Actor Imran Khan has been sharing stories and anecdotes about how things in Bollywood used to be, when he was still actively working as an actor. In his latest post, he talked about how he too was obsessed with bulked up bodies of male actors and was often criticised for his skinny body.
‘Have always been skinny’
Imran wrote that he had always been a skinny person, but that wasn’t good enough to be a Bollywood hero. “I’m one of those hyper-metabolic people, my body just burns through whatever I consume. Oh no, what a terrible affliction! In my late teens, guys around me started joining gyms and working out. They started to expand, their biceps stretching the sleeves of their t-shirts. I wore a size S, and my sleeves were still loose,” he said about his body type.
“I didn’t need to be muscular to play Jai Singh Rathore (his character in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa)… but I was convinced that I was too skinny, which is why Jai mostly wears two layers of clothing throughout Jaane Tu. For my next film, Kidnap, I hit the gym in earnest, and began my journey with body building,” he said.
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Cruel comments
Imran also revealed the mean comments he had to face from filmmakers for his physique. “Over the next few years, the sculpting and maintenance of my body became part of my lifestyle. I worked out regularly, but still I would hear “So… you’ll bulk up a bit before we start shooting, right?”; “You’re looking weak”, “You look like a little boy, not a man”, and “The heroine looks bigger than you” (ouch for both of us),” he wrote.
Took steroids
Imran then detailed all the things he ate and used to build up his body, including taking steroids. “In hindsight, I think I looked fine… but at the time, I felt insecure. I wanted a powerful, heroic physique. So I tried harder. Exercise means nothing without nutrition; 6 meals a day, totalling 4000 calories. Chicken breast, egg whites, sweet potato, oats, flax seeds… all good stuff, but still not enough to make my biceps look like the heroes I saw onscreen. No, for that I needed to supplement with whey protein, creatine, leucine, glutamine, L-carnitine… and ultimately, even anabolic steroids,” he wrote.
The actor agreed that the mention of steroids wotuld cause ‘shock and horror’. “We’re not supposed to admit that part out loud, it could totally ruin the illusion,” he said.
Reaction to skinny pics
Imran then mentioned how he was ridiculed and torn apart after pictures of him looking skinnier than before surfaced online. “In recent years, as I battled depression and stopped working out, I became skinnier than I’d ever been. When I was photographed, it sparked a media discussion about my wellbeing, and speculations of drug abuse! I felt deeply ashamed, embarrassed to be seen by anyone in this state. So I retreated further,” he said.
Giving an update on his life now, he said, “It’s been an uphill journey, but these days I’m doing better than ever; I exercise with my old friend @tokastraining who puts my health first and only feeds me supplements like walnuts and turmeric… seriously. And while I’m still a tad jealous of those dudes with superhero muscles… I don’t feel bad about myself.”
Imran has taken a long break from acting but gave new hope to his fans after promising them that he would sign a project if they gave enough likes to one of his posts on Instagram.