Actress Ritabhari Chakraborty had to gain 25 kilos to fit in the character of a plus-size model for the upcoming Bengali-language film Fatafati, slated to release in theaters on May 12. “The journey to gain the extra kilos wasn’t easy for me. I had to consume a lot more fats and carbs. There came moments when my body couldn’t take it any more, leaving me feeling weak. However, the chance to speak for millions of men and women who live it everyday made it all worth it,” Ritabhari said in a statement recently.

Ritabhari will share the screen space with actor Abir Chatterjee and TV actress Swastika Dutta for the first time in the upcoming film, directed by Aritra Mukherjee.

“For the first time I went through such a huge physical transformation for a film. Post my surgeries I had gained around 7 kilos as I was bedridden for over 6 months. Then I was all prepared to shed it for two scripts that needed me to get back in shape. Then Fatafati came to me - the script changed everything! When I heard the narration I knew I have to gain 15 -20 more kilos to look the part -to justify the role of a XXL model,” Ritabhari had written in an Instagram post on March 26.

“That meant I had to give up on other films I had then and probably not get cast till I shed this again. But some stories and causes are worth all that trouble! Body shaming is something I have always felt strongly against and here was my chance to speak for millions of men and women who live it every day,” the Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti actress further wrote.

Fatafati, presented by Nandita Roy and Shiboproshad Mukherjee, is produced by Windows. Zinia Sen helped with the storyline and screenplay while Samragnee Bandhyopadhyay helped with the dialogues. This is Ritabhari Chakraborty’s second film with Windows.