Mumbai/IBNS: Bollywood actor Imran Khan has recently opened up about body-shaming recalling how he was ridiculed for being “skinny”.
In a long post on Instagram, Imran, who is the nephew of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, said he was told “you look like a little boy, not a man”.
After ‘Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na’, Imran, who says he was convinced back then that he was skinny, hit the gym and even went on to take steroids to gain muscles for the next film ‘Kidnap’.
He writes, “I’ve always been skinny. 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.
I didn’t need to be muscular to play Jai Singh Rathore… 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.”
The actor adds, ” 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!).
“In hindsight, I think I looked fine… but at the time, I felt insecure. I wanted a powerful, heroic physique. So I tried harder.”
