When Farhan Akhtar gave up rice, roti for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, burned 3500 calories a day

New Delhi: One of Akhtar’s most memorable performances is when he played the role of Milkha Singh in the biopic ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of this masterpiece, here’s a look back at Farhan’s impeccable transformation. To play the Olympian runner, Farhan has put in everything to ensure that when the biopic comes alive, it is made perfectly. Akhtar’s superb physique and transformation added to his unbeatable performance.

The whole life of Milkha Singh has been shown in the film. So Farhan had to simultaneously play the role of Milkha Singh, an army cadet at the peak of his athletic career. The physical requirements of the two roles differed greatly. For his transformation, he first had to put on 8-10 kgs while playing the role of an army cadet and later shed those 10 kgs to play the role of a sprinter. Not only did he change his physique, but he also had to become more disciplined, meaning he would go to bed at 10 pm and wake up at 5:30 am to train.

Read also: Disha Patani ditches the tiger-print bikini set, flaunts toned body in now-deleted mirror selfie

cre trending stories

Farhan was on a strict diet for his eating habits. He gave up rice, chapatti which is an Indian food and also roti. Instead, he got carbs from fruits and vegetables. For his first look as a soldier, he used to consume 3,500 calories a day with five liters of water.

However, for his second appearance as an Olympian sprinter, although his diet remained the same but the portions were smaller and he cut down to 1800 calories. For protein, he had a six-egg white omelet and mushrooms with orange juice for breakfast. Salt was also banned because water retention caused it to look bloated. Two hours later, he would have a bowl of porridge with half a glass of skimmed milk. Half an hour later, he drank some coconut water. Lunch will include grilled chicken with roasted broccoli, asparagus, beans, baby cabbage and pak choy. Everything will be prepared in olive oil.

Later take protein shake after two hours. Berries were the only fruit he could eat as they have a low glycemic index and provide the right antioxidants. Every evening, a bowl of boiled chickpea or moong salad with cucumber, tomato and low-calorie dressing. Dinner was usually the same as lunch, but basa or salmon replaced the chicken. He used to have a protein shake again before going to bed. While on this very strict diet, Farhan definitely craved ice cream and gulab jamun as they are his favourite, but he also had a cheat day once in 15 days where he would enjoy a glass of ‘Dilli Lassi’. Used to take

Read also: Did you know: Akshay Kumar gave up non-vegetarian food while playing Lord Krishna in OMG

For his workouts, Farhan used to meet Melvin Crasto for athletic training at 6:30 am at Priyadarshini Park. The training focused on teaching Farhan about the profession so that he could effectively perform the running sequences in the film. For each session, Farhan would run for 1200 metres. His second workout session consisted of functional training. It focused on strengthening the core as well as increasing flexibility which is important for a runner.

The third session of the day started at 6 pm which included weight training. The routine will focus on hypertrophy strength training (HST) and Tabata. HST helped to gain muscle mass by subjecting the body to increased loads.

For more than a year, Farhan abstained from his comfortable life with regards to food, drink and lifestyle. He made every effort to do justice to his role and it really paid off and the film continues to receive love and was one of the biggest blockbusters at the box office.