Look great at any age: Bollywood actors tell how

From Prateik and Imran Khan to Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor and the evergreen Kabir Bedi — actors from different age groups have their own formula to look sharp and live well.

In the June issue of GQ India magazine, the five stylish actors have opened up about getting old yet staying young.

Excerpts from the magazine:

* At what point in your life do you think you looked your best?

Prateik (28): I’d say now. My face looks more mature and I feel better. My head is in a good place. I’m thinking about the right things.

Imran Khan (32): Right now. I think guys have to get to their mid-30s before they start to look put-together. A lot of it has to do with the fact that you have more money, and a more developed sense of your own style. It’s also just a physical thing. Guys’ faces take a little while to settle down. The shape of the jaw becomes broader, a little more manly.

Akshay Kumar (47): I’d say now. I’m doing parkour and a lot of free-style workouts. My aim is to maintain my current level of fitness, if not push it ahead.

Anil Kapoor (58): Now! It’s a combination of being fit and my state of mind. One’s state of mind and what one is feeling always reflects on one’s face. Which is why sometimes the best-looking people start looking the worst. And sometimes you’ll see someone who was so ordinary suddenly looking great and say, “What a transformation!”

Kabir Bedi (69): In my early 30s, when I did Sandokan, the European television series that made me a star there. I played a prince-turned-pirate who fights the British communal powers on the seas of South Asia, so there was a lot of swashbuckling adventure and action. I swam a lot, did weight training, went horse riding. Mentally, I feel my best today. The mind grows with time, it evolves. You learn more – and hopefully your judgment gets better.

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* Growing up, who did you want to look like? Who did you find handsome?

Prateik: Jim Carrey. I wanted to be only, and only Jim Carrey, after The Mask. As a kid, till I was 15 or 16 – even now – I’m always doing something with my face in all my pictures. Sticking my tongue out. I cannot keep a straight face.

Imran Khan: I always looked up to guys like [James] Dean and [Bruce] Springsteen, ruggedly good looking guys who dressed like they didn’t give a damn. Jeans, T-shirt, sleeves rolled up. Something about their vibe was just so effortless.

Akshay Kumar: Sylvester Stallone. I had a huge poster of him in my room when I was working in Bangkok. It’s the poster for Cobra where he’s wearing Ray-Ban glasses and holding a gun. I wanted so badly to have a body like his. Right down to his crooked smile.

Anil Kapoor: (Marlon) Brando, James Dean, Paul Newman. They were extremely handsome. I

liked their style, their attitude and they were great actors. So I would try and pick up things from their movies.

Kabir Bedi: The first Bond film, “Dr. No”, with Sean Connery came out when I was 16. There was the glamour of the Bond image. And Connery was a rising star. He was the guy I wanted to be. The most handsome man was Shammi Kapoor. He had charm, he sounded beautiful and he looked beautiful.

Inputs by IANS