Tota Roy Chowdhury. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Shah Rukh Khan’s six pack has inspired Tota Roy Chowdhury to tone up his body. The athletic actor is working out hard to show off his six pack in Tintorettor Jishu. He is also watching his TV career take off. Tota tells t2 why he is loving every moment of both...

The switch from films to TV: As an actor of a regional film industry, I felt limited in terms of being seen. Television has a wider audience base. Even people abroad are watching my serials. Besides, I have challenging roles in both the megas. Lal Trikon on Zee Bangla is a political thriller, while ETV Bangla’s Ei Ghar Ei Sansar directed by Swapan Saha is a family drama. It was a lucrative offer and I had a lot of time on hand. And believe me, I am enjoying TV to the hilt!

His roles in the two megas: In Ei Ghar, I play Zee TV reporter Pratik, who is brave, upright and fights against injustice. In Lal Trikon, I am the young politician Aniket who gets into trouble while trying to find his father-in-law’s killer.

The reason behind the bearded look: I am not conventionally good looking; that’s why I keep changing my image (laughs).... I have the beard for my role in Lal Trikon. Now I want to change my look completely. In a few days, I will sport my six pack and yes, I will bare it all in Tintorettor Jishu. I have quite an action-packed role in the film!

For a toned bod: I am into kick-boxing again and I am hitting the gym four days a week. I am doing a lot of stretching and cardio. I am also following a high-protein-low-fat diet. I had learnt Taekwondo and martial arts when I was in college as I wanted to join the army.

Why Swapan Saha is his favourite: Ei Ghar Ei Sansar is like a masala film, the kind Swapan Saha is famous for. It’s my favourite. I think no one understands the commercial angle of films more than Swapanda. I found my dialogues very interesting. They are like what MLA Fatakesto would deliver — Aami Pratik, aami marle lasho porbe na, chhaio urbe na! Besides, my character in Ei Ghar goes very well with my image. Pratik is very macho and I have a macho, brawny image. I cannot play meek, docile characters because my audience doesn’t associate me with such roles.

Films in the pipeline: Rituparno Ghosh’s Sunglass is slated to release in July-August. I am dubbing for it now. I am leaving for Hong Kong in April-end to shoot for Sandip Ray’s Tintorettor Jishu. Then there’s a Swapan Saha musical for which I am picking up moves that Hrithik Roshan and Shahid Kapoor have in their films.