Unni Mukundan opens up about his body transformation journey for Meppadiyan

Director Vishnu Mohan expressed apprehension about Unni Mukundan's six pack abs when he approached him for Meppadiyan. As the hero is a local young man, the muscles needed to be shed and the actor, who was hesitant to do so, recently opened up to Onmanorama about how he pulled off the character.

Unni seems to have been taken aback a bit by the demand of the debutant director. But going forward with the story he soon realised Vishnu had a point. Midway through the plot, he agreed to essay Jayakrishnan in Meppadiyan.

It took almost four years to release the film and it is probably the first movie in Unni Mukundan’s career that took so long. The actor, who is known for his muscles, appears to be a common, young village man who has given up his uptight muscles and taken the character by heart.

The actor says Meppadiyan is very special to him. Giving four years to a director is not an easy journey. He further talked about how he gained weight and lost all the packs. “I avoided junk food and ate a lot of authentic Kerala snacks so that my weight gain wouldn’t pose any health issues for me,” he said.

The Malayalam family drama revolves around the central character and some unexpected incidents he faces. The movie is backed by the actor himself under the banner of Unni Mukundan films. It also features Saiju Kurup, Anju Kurup, Nisha Sarang and Kalabhavan Shajohn. The film hit theatres on January 14, 2022 and opened to positive reviews.

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Vishnu is currently gearing up for his next film titled Pappa. Unni will be seen in the movie as well. He plays the role of a politician for the first time in his career for the film.