Actor-filmmaker Basil Joseph has revealed that he underwent a major physical transformation for his upcoming film Athiradi, shedding 15 kilos to play the character Samkutty, also known as Sam Boy, a college student in the film. Basil spoke about the effort that went into the transformation during a promotional interview with Cue Studio.
Speaking about the preparation behind the role, Basil said, “Athiradi is my first major lead release after Maranamass. That film was released in April last year. Coming into this project, I was very aware of the impact such a role and character work can create. I also decided to become one of the producers of the film. As an actor, I have now reached a certain point. After films like Ponman and Sookshmadarshini, there is no space to move backwards because people now have expectations. So I felt I had to put in more effort to make the character better.”
Basil also acknowledged the challenge of convincingly portraying a college student at this stage in his life. “When you say it’s a college character, obviously, I am not at that age anymore. I have a wife and a child, and everyone knows that. There is no point in simply coming clean-shaven and claiming to be a college boy,” he said. The actor added that physical transformation was one aspect that could only be achieved through discipline and consistency. “Everything else, maybe you can achieve with money. But for the body, you have to put in the work yourself. There is no other option apart from investing a lot of time. For this film, it reached a point where I was doing nothing other than acting preparation. For around ten months, I fasted and worked out for one or two hours every day. I put in an extreme level of effort.”
Basil said the response during the trial screening made the effort feel worthwhile. “When everyone said I looked like a college boy during the trial screening, I was genuinely happy. It gave me confidence that all the hard work had achieved something.” Revealing the extent of his transformation, Basil added, “My trouser size is now 28. Earlier, it used to be 34. In total, I lost 15 kilos. My current body weight is 60 kilos. I have completely dedicated nearly two years of my life to this film.”
Directed by debutant Arun Anirudhan, Athiradi is billed as a festive campus action entertainer and is slated for release on May 14. The film, co-starring Tovino Thomas and Vineeth Sreenivasan in the lead roles, also marks Basil’s first production venture.
