He has mostly had supporting roles in films or played the funny guy, but plus-size model-turned- actor Aru K Verma is looking to break that image now. The actor, who has starred in films such as 2 States (2014), Befikre (2016) and Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017), is now on a weight loss spree, as he feels that getting fitter is the only way to have a long and sustainable run in Bollywood.
“It’s high time and I really want to lose weight. It has been a while that I’ve been doing a certain kind of role. For me, in order to have a long sustainable film career, I need to be fit. Also, there’s a film project that I am doing and I've been asked to lose weight [for that]. It’s a very good role,” shares Aru, who has already lost 15 kilos and wants to get fitter for the sake of his health.
Aru, who has been working in the film industry for almost a decade now, feels that filmmakers in India have the tendency to stereotype overweight actors unlike in the West, where despite being on the plus side, actors get good roles in movies.
“People here look at overweight people as the happy-go-lucky kinds and even roles for such actors are written like that. It is the kind of category that has developed over the years. In Hollywood, actors like Jonah Hill and Chrissy Metz are getting such good roles and just doing comic roles,” opines the actor.
However, Aru feels that the situation is looking up in Bollywood as well because directors have now started to look beyond the weight and giving meaningful roles to overweight actors.
“In the last three to four years, the kind of directors I am meeting and working with are different. For example, For Jab Harry Met Sejal, when I met [director] Imtiaz [Ali] , he said that he was not casting me because I was fat. He wanted me as he felt I was best suited for the particular role. I was very glad that he said such things. The preception is changing, but slowly,” he says.
