Tota Roy Chowdhury holds fort at the Nagerbazar chat session on Sunday. Picture by Aranya Sen

He has earned kudos from cine-goers for his performance in Chokher Bali. On Sunday evening, at The Goodlife Talk Show held in Nagerbazar, actor Tota Roy Chowdhury presented himself in yet another avatar — that of fitness expert.

Holding the attention of a 150-strong audience from the age of 17 to 70, who came for the health and fitness talk, is not easy. But for the man who admits to being a fitness freak himself, donning this new image for a couple of hours came naturally.

“I enjoyed the show thoroughly. I do a lot of reading on fitness and health myself and I was only too happy to share that information with a group of equally concerned and curious individuals,” smiled Tota, who also owns a gym in Kankurgachhi.

Dressed in a pair of denims and trendy crushed cotton shirt, Tota arrived at 6 pm, right on time despite the ulto-rath rush. Tota fielded each query with what seemed to be experienced elan. The guests were eager and in the know themselves, and it wasn’t long before the questions flowed faster than Tota could answer them.

The posers ranged from the general — “Should people eat the white or the yolk of the egg” — to the personal — “I always feel sleepy, even while at work, please help me.”

Sumana Sen kicked off the discussion. “I am a working woman, I don’t get the time to exercise. How can I remain fit?” she asked. “Stop using a cordless phone, a television remote and the elevator at once,” laughed Tota, all set to start martial arts training for his next silver screen project. Practical tips like that one kept the audience hooked and happy.

“My son only wants to eat Maggi, so I pack that for school lunch everyday. Is this healthy?” asked a concerned Saswati Dam, mother of two. Here is the film star’s take on good parenting: “Get your child into the habit of eating rotis instead. They have nutritional value, packaged noodles just have refined flour. Maggi should be his prize. If he is good for three days, on the fourth day he will get Maggi for tiffin.”

What dominated a part of the discussion were problems related to the overuse of computers and high stress levels at work. After fielding a couple of questions on the subject, Tota demonstrated some exercises for the body and eyes that can be done to relax. “You can do these sitting in your chair once every 15 to 20 minutes. Also, make sure you take a break and walk around the office for 10 minutes every three hours or so,” he suggested for those in desk jobs. Investing in a good pair of anti-glare glasses is also an effective option, he added.

Four meals a day was what the strict opponent of dieting recommended. Cutting down drastically on food consumption is not the solution for weight problems, he stressed. “Don’t go to doctors who ask you to give up rice and cereals to slim down. That’s no good,” he advised 18-year-old Shobha Dutta.

As the chat came to a close, it was clear that more queries were forthcoming, and some rushed for a one-on-one talk with the actor before he called it a night.