‘Just Shaving Isn’t Enough’: Basil Joseph Opens Up About Extreme Weight Loss for College Boy Role

Basil Joseph revealed he lost 15 kilos and followed strict fasting and workouts for 10 months to convincingly play a college student in the upcoming Malayalam film Athiradi.

There's a lot of buzz in Malayalam cinema for the upcoming film 'Athiradi', directed by Arun Anirudhan. Basil Joseph is playing the main character, Sam Boy, while Tovino Thomas has a major role as Sreekuttan Vellayani. All the updates about the film so far have been very promising. Now, Basil has opened up about the massive effort he put in for his role, and it's getting everyone talking.

Basil Joseph says that just clean-shaving your face isn't enough to look like a college student, and that's why he lost about 15 kilos for this film. He added that for ten months, he was dedicated to fasting and working out for one to two hours daily, putting in what he calls an "extreme effort". Basil shared these details in an interview with The Cue Studio.

Basil Joseph: 'Just Shaving Isn't Enough', Lost 15 Kilos for New Role

"When you say a college character, I'm obviously not of college-going age. I have a wife and a child, everyone knows that. It's pointless to just clean-shave my face and claim I'm a college boy," Basil said. "You can buy anything else with money, but for your body, you have to put in the work yourself. There's no other option but to invest a lot of time. I reached a point where I stopped taking up any other acting work just for this."

"For ten months, I was fasting and working out for one or two hours every single day. It was an extreme effort. I was really happy when everyone said I looked like a college boy during the trial look test. It really boosted my confidence, knowing all that hard work paid off," he shared. "My pant size is now 28; it used to be 34. I lost a total of 15 kilos. My current weight is 60 kg. I have completely dedicated two years of my life to this film, it's been a part of my life," Basil added.