Tigmanshu Dhulia to lose 15 kilos to play Irrfan’s buddy

It’s pretty much touch-and-go for filmmaker-turned-actor Tigmanshu Dhulia. He is grappling with a multitude of tasks, and that now includes losing 10-15 kilos for his role as Irrfan Khan’s buddy in Yaariya which Tigmanshu will direct in July. “So I’ve exactly two months to seriously lose weight,” informs the agitated director from the sets of Nikhil Advani’s Hero. “I need to look younger and also well-matched with Irrfan who will play my friend. With the way I look right now we’ll look like Laurel and Hardy together,” chuckles Tigmanshu who has stepped into Yaariya to take over a role earmarked for Manoj Bajpai. “Manoj had a problem with the dates of about 15 days of shooting. We were trying to sort it out when my producer of Yaariya suggested I step into the role. I said, why not? After all I’m currently playing one of the toughest roles of my career,” says Tigmanshu about his role as debutante Aatthia Shetty’s father in Hero. “To begin with, my character is that of a man 15 years older than me. He is a police commissioner and the father of a grownup daughter. All this is alien to me. Also the role has no dramatic highs and lows. In comparison my character in Yaariya is much closer to my personality,” admits Tigmanshu. A strict diet regime will start from next month so that Tigmanshu would look well matched with his screen friend Irrfan Khan in Yaariya. Says Tigmanshu, “I’m overweight and I needed to lose weight anyway.This role gives me a chance to shed the extra baggage on me.” Tigmanshu is currently juggling with his acting role in Hero, the pre-production of his directorial venture Yaariya and his weight-loss regime. “There are three sets of people with me on the sets of Hero. I’m shooting with Nikhil Advani’s team and doing my pre-production work forYaariya. My weight consultant is also on the sets,” sighs Tigmanshu. With production, direction, acting and singing (yes, Tigmanshu plays the guitar and sings also) are we looking at another Farhan Akhtar in Bollywood? “Let me lose 15 kilos. Then we’ll see,” quips Tigmanshu.