EXCLUSIVE: Prithviraj Sukumaran talks about drastic physical transformation for The Goat Life; reveals his ‘body shut down’ due to losing 31 kilos

Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran is gearing up for the release of the much-awaited movie, The Goat Life. It is an adaptation of the 2008 Malayalam novel Aadujeevitham by Benyamin, which is based on a true incident. He plays Najeeb in the movie and had to go through an intensive physical transformation to justify his character. Prithviraj Sukumaran lost 31 kilos for his character in The Goat Life. Talking about his drastic transformation in the Bollywood Bubble, Prithviraj said his body gave up. His body shut down and refused to lose any more kilos.

Prithviraj Sukumaran on his weight loss transformation

“I knew that if I said yes to it, there had to be a significant investment of time and effort from my side. I also knew that the greatest justice I could do to the story and the man who lived the life was that if I was not prepared to go through that process. I’d politely refuse once I said yes to it, I knew that there was no holding back. I had to throw myself at it but what I did not anticipate was that I’d go through this entire physical transformation. Then the pandemic would strike and then we would have to suspend shoot for almost two years and then I have to do that again a second time.” He exclusively told us.

The Salaar actor then revealed that he lost 31 kilos weight for the character in the movie. “The plan was that I put on as much weight as I could for the beginning portions of the film so that the transformation seems all the more drastic. When I started losing weight I was way above my usual weight. For the first 8-9 kilos. I was thinking, ‘This is easy’. But once you come down about 5-8 kilos more than your normal weight, then your body just shuts down. It just refuses to lose anymore. But I kept telling myself this is once in your life, don’t mess this up,” he added.

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Prithviraj on being hungry every time on the sets

Sukumaran said, “The overbearing memory of shooting Aadujeevitham for me more than anything is hunger because I wasn’t eating. I’m pretty much hungry every day. I realized when I wake up, I’m hungry, when I’m filming I’m hungry, when I go to bed I’m hungry. Even when I break my fast and eat something, I’m not eating enough to feel satiated. I’m always hungry. When there would be a lunch break on set, the entire crew would be sitting inside a tent and having lunch. I’m just sitting there eating nothing and I’d be watching all these people eating. I’d be hungry and angry and angry.“

“Then suddenly the thought would strike me, Najeeb must have been hungry. He must have been hungry and he wasn’t hungry by choice, he didn’t have a nutritionist supervising your calorie count. Najeeb didn’t have a doctor on standby with an IV and a BP apparatus ready. He did not have a trainer who monitored your heart rate so just shut up,” Bade Miyan Chote Miyan actor further said.

Watch the full interview

Written, directed, and co-produced by Blessy, The Goat Life also stars Amala Paul and Jimmy Jean-Louis.

Also read: EXCLUSIVE: Prithviraj Sukumaran feels Akshay Kumar is an ‘inspirational actor’, talks about his relationship with son Aarav