Picture by Rashbehari Das, location: The Park

You look fitter than ever before...

Yes, I lost 6kg for Bikram Singha (directed by Rajib, produced by Eskay Movies, releasing this Friday). I would hit the gym at noon and leave at 3.30pm. I am 64-65 kg now. I was 72-73kg before I did Bikram Singha. I started working out three months before the shoot. My food habit is very bad — I don’t eat! But now I have a dietician and he has put me on supplements. My eating habits have improved in the past five-six months. Earlier, I would just sip coffee and drink water through the whole day! But I don’t do that anymore.

What kind of a diet do you follow now?

Well, I start my day with a bowl of papaya. Before leaving home, I have five different types of dry fruits. Post-afternoon, I have an apple and half a guava. I munch on dry fruits and multigrain biscuits in the evening. There’s nothing called a proper lunch in my life! In between, I take protein shakes. For dinner, I have a bowl of boiled vegetables with a few mushrooms sprinkled on it and about 150-200g of boiled fish or chicken. The bowl of boiled vegetables is like a bowl of medicine for me. It tastes horrible. In summer, I prefer having lots of curd. I have rice only once a month! When I was young, my diet consisted of dal, rajma, chicken and half a roti with onion. That was tasty, this is very bland....

And what is the workout regimen like?

I believe in doing freehand and a bit of dumbbells. I never thought of building my body or sporting a six-pack because I am not a very tall person. Only once I had done that, for Purushottam (1992). I had a beefy body but when I saw myself on screen, I thought I looked like a gambat (idiot)! And because I was a romantic hero at that time, my body went against my image. So I decided to be fit and lean like Shashi Kapoor and Jeetendra were in their younger days rather than build muscles. Actually, when I started my career the concept of gymming wasn’t there. Back then, we would eat less and bank on yoga. A lot has changed since.

Which part of your body is your problem area?

I am a little self-conscious about my tummy and arms, that’s it. I focus on these parts more during workouts. I do crunches and some light weight-lifting to tone up my arms and tummy.

Why did you have to be so hard on yourself for Bikram Singha?

Prosenjit in Bikram Singha. (Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

Because there are way too many action sequences in the film and I had to look fit in those. For 48 days, we shot only action sequences in Andhra Pradesh! And in none of these did I use a body double. I did a lot of stretch exercises because I had to kick high up in the air. I was out of practice because I hadn’t done an action film in a long time. Also, I wanted to look like a 35-year-old!

I was known as an action hero, a romantic hero everything…(laughs). Now the action pattern has changed a lot. There were action scenes in films like Dadamoni, Amar Sangi… but they were very different. When we did Pratibad (2001), we introduced canon blasts for the first time in Bengali films. Earlier we would jump from 20ft above the ground and fall on a pile of mattresses. We would call it padding. But now we shoot with hydraulic cranes, the cables of the crane are tied to our bodies with ropes. I jumped from a 200ft building in Bikram Singha, earlier we couldn’t imagine doing that! At my age, jumping from 200ft is risky. Watch out for the climax!

Have you ever tried martial arts?

Let me tell you an interesting story. When I was in school, I had seen Enter the Dragon 22 times at New Empire. I wanted to become like Bruce Lee! I started reading up on him and I learnt that he ate raw liver, so I ate that too! My Dadamoshai had a technical training institute in Dum Dum, where a lot of students were from Imphal. One of them looked exactly like Bruce Lee and he was a black belt in karate, so I started picking up karate from him. I could even break bricks then! Mishuk (son) is learning karate....

You’ve worked very hard for Bikram Singha but Bengali masala films have not been doing too well of late. Are you apprehensive?

Well, I am not sure how the film will fare. Bikram Singha as a story isn’t unique, it is not that we’ve attempted to do something that nobody has ever seen. The only novelty is people will get to see what I have done at my age, I will soon be 50. I am 49 now but I am 25 at heart, and I think this is the right age to do Bikram Singha! (Laughs) Like Dibakar says (Banerjee, director of Shanghai), ‘Bumbada has just started his career. He is fresh now’! I have got a rebirth and I am enjoying it. Henceforth whatever I do I want to set an example, that is all I want. People who have been seeing me for so many years will say ‘Bumbada ki korechhe’. That is all I want from people. See, masala films will always be there... all of Dev’s masala films, which may not run for long but the first week collection is great.

Besides, I don’t want to get stuck in an image, that’s why I will juggle both masala and meaningful films. Why not? I have a ready audience for these films. But that doesn’t mean that just because I have done a Bikram Singha, from tomorrow I will only dance around trees with four heroines! There’s a Bikram Singha and then there’s a Shanghai too. I am really enjoying this phase of my career. I have accepted my age and taken up challenges. This is a very critical time. So many actors sulk because they can’t accept age. You can’t stop yourself from ageing. So many actors have shut out the world after they turned 50 and hit the bottle. But there is so much one can do even after a certain age. If I can work like this for another four-five years, that is it.... I am never frustrated because of my age. I have accepted it.

Prosenjit’s tip for 40-plus men

Relax, stay calm. Don’t take too much stress. The kind of stress I go through is too much but that never shows on my face because I have practised switching off and switching on over the years. You have to mould yourself. There will be stress and problems but you must find a way to relax, listen to music and take yourself away from everything... like what I did during Moner Manush. Develop good food habits. Eat in proportion. Don’t live to eat, eat to live.