The character in Meppadiyan demanded this physique: Unni Mukundan

Throughout the lockdown Unni Mukundan was forced to maintain his look for

Meppadiyan

, which had him grow out his beard and also put on a few kilos to lose his muscular physique. The actor, who is now getting back to his fitness routine, tells us if staying without working out was a bother to him.

“Definitely, that’s also why I wanted to complete the project soon and get back to my normal self. The character demanded this physique – as per the script and the milieu. He’s someone who is from a normal household and doesn’t have too many responsibilities. So, this gave me a scope to put on weight and display a different body language, compared to the other characters that I will be doing next. So, I am just happy that I can do my bit to make the roles look different,” says Unni.

The actor has a host of projects lined up – including a film in Telugu that will go on floors next year and a Tamil movie that he is in talks for. “I also have an interesting film coming up in Malayalam with my favourite team. It will be announced soon,” says Unni.

The actor, meanwhile, is also training in kung fu for his role in Vysakh’s Bruce Lee. “I couldn’t do the martial arts training during the shoot of Meppadiyan, but I will gradually resume. Before that I have to start shedding fat and be muscular again,” concludes Unni, who will also be teaming up with Meppadiyan director Vishnu Mohan for a political-thriller titled

Pappa

next year.