“I’m on a very strict diet."
Usman Mukhtar has shared details about his struggle with an eating disorder and how it caused him to lose weight.
During a recent appearance on Tony Navaid Rashid’s show Tony, Tea and Company, the Pakistani actor revealed that he went through a dramatic weight transformation.
The Hum Kahan Se Sachay Thay star spoke about a variety of topics including his on-screen relationship with his Anaa co-star Naimal Khawar.
Speaking about the struggles he has faced since his debut, Usman said:
“I never faced the casting couch. I am a very different kind of person.
“Commercial things don’t really appeal to me, because I feel commercial things are great up to a point, but nowadays, they are devoid of logic.
“There is no logic in commercial cinema. It is getting dumber by the day.”
Usman Mukhtar added: “I didn’t want to do those things, and I struggled a lot with it over the course of my career.
“I used to do theatre, but I didn’t go commercial because I couldn’t find good content.
“But, then, you realise that if you stay and work within your bubble, you won’t get the recognition that you want.
“So, then, after running away from it for a long time, I decided to do TV.
“Anaa gave me the recognition that I never got.”
Following his success with his television debut in Anaa, several fans of his and Naimal Khawar’s characters took their on-screen relationship too seriously.
Explaining how he and Naimal never saw each other in a romantic way, Usman said:
“Naimal and I never had that kind of a dynamic. We were always like siblings.
“People think we met on the set of Anaa, but we’ve known each other much longer than that.
“We never thought of things that way.
“I think it’s a compliment on our performance on screen and being able to portray that chemistry very well.”
Usman Mukhtar revealed that his successful TV debut led to an overwhelming number of offers.
The actor said the pressure led to an eating disorder.
Usman said: “One thing that no one knows about me is that I have an eating disorder.
“I’m in a different phase right now where I can’t eat as much.”
“I’m on a very strict diet. Even if there’s biryani being made at home, I won’t have any.”
He added: “Sometimes I am on a very strict diet, but when I let it go I start eating more.
“I was 138 kgs, after which I went to 83 kgs.”
“I’m 89 kgs right now and I need to lose more weight.”
When the host asked Usman Mukhtar whether he worries about sustaining his success, he said:
“I have no plans. People have tried to scare me a lot with this, but my aim is to try and select good projects. Try to challenge myself.”
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