How Nikhil piled on 12 kilos in two months flat

Actor

Nikhil

’s ‘beefed up’ frame has been getting him a lot of attention of late. The actor has put on as many as “12 kilos” for his upcoming film, but doesn’t look like he’s not done bulking up yet. “I weighed 73 kilos when I completed shooting for my last film '

Keshava

' and now I tip the scales at 85 kg. But I need to add few more extra kilos and get ripped to get into the skin of my character,” he reveals adding, “So I play a student leader in my next. It’s a very powerful character and I need to look really hefty to carry off the role convincingly. That’s why I decided to retain the beard as well as the role demands that I look very rugged. I still need to put on a little more muscle on my chest and shoulders especially.”
It took him just two months to pile on the 12 kilos. Admittedly like he’s been eating with a vengeance. “I’ve been eating till I get choked you know (laughs). A lot of meals filled with carbs and protein, that’s what I’ve been filling myself up with,” he says.
Eating is the easy part when compared to the long hours at the gym, he reckons. “I have not missed a single work-out session since I started training. I hit the gym religiously everyday for the last two months. I have
been bench-pressing hundred kilo weights to tone my chest,” he says adding, “The secret to a great body is simple — eat healthy and lift heavy. It’s not easy, but fun nevertheless. It’s a part of the whole process of getting into the skin of the character I play.”
A remake of Kannada blockbuster '

Kirik Party

', the film will see Nikhil play a “fun-loving mechanical engineering student.”
“It’s after a decade that I’m doing a college-based-film after Happy Days (2007), so I’m very kicked about it. And the best thing about this film is that three directors —

Sharan Koppisetti

(directing), Sudheer Varma (screenplay) and Chandoo Mondeti (dialogues) are coming together,” says Nikhil adding, “This narrative unfolds in the backdrop of college life filled with oodles of romance and politics. The film will also feature eight boys and three girls, all of them debutantes. We’ll be holding auditions for it soon. Even the lead actress will be a newcomer. Except me, the entire cast will be fresh.”