this story originally appeared in on mar 21 2016last october when randeep hooda was getting ready to binge during diwali he was told by omung kumar the director of his upcoming biopic that theyd decided to shoot the portions of sarbajit in jail earlier than planned the 39yearold actor had a month to transform into the skeleton of a starving man confined in a 4 ft x 4 ft prison cell he lost 18 kg in 28 days i was a muscular 94 kg at the time and while its easy to burn fat its hard to lose muscle i was expecting to shoot the portions when sarbjit was a pahalwan in his village and then slowly shed weight the decision came as a shock and led to a period of physical and mental torture randeep recalls his sister dr anjali hoodasangwan an obesity metabolic medicine and clinical nutrition specialist put him on a very low calorie diet of proteins and greens with a few cheat days when he could have some starch depending on his activity levels the diet allowed him between 500600 calories every day but varied depending on weight hydration levels vitamin deficiency and his bodys reaction to the food intakerandeep hooda brushing up wrestling skills for sarbjit like i do with everything else i overdid this too going on a zero calorie diet without realising the body needs sugar to function the lack of it almost drove me crazy i was thinking about food all the time there were days when i was so hungry i couldnt sleep there came a point when i wasnt even allowed an apple and was so emaciated i could barely walk he shudders admitting that had his sister not monitored his diet and health so closely he might not have pulled it off its something you do over threefour months not 28 days in 1990 sarbjit a farmer strayed into pakistan three months after a series of bomb attacks in lahore and faisalabad killed 14 he was convicted of terrorism and spying by pakistans supreme court and sentenced to death in 1991 the execution was repeatedly deferred but on april 26 2013 he was attacked by fellow inmates in central jail lahore suffering head injuries a broken backbone and was in coma on may 2 his death was announced and his body flown home reportedly with vital organs missing and the skull broken into two some have dismissed randeeps efforts evident in an exclusive picture in mirror february 5 as touched up he insists his sufferings were for real and good for the character his social life was zero during the shoot on new years eve he had one drink and it made him dizzy he had to return home i couldnt even ride my horses i was so weak i was afraid id fall and break my neck he says glad to get back to 84 kg he admits it was unwise to attempt two makeovers in one year