Destiny's Child

She still packs a punch when it comes to her performances, but actor Parineeti Chopra has shed her girl-next-door image, lost oodles of weight and donned the cape of divahood. In an exclusive cover shoot with asiaSpa India at the newly opened Anantara Kalutara Resort in the tropical paradise of Sri Lanka, she reveals the secret behind her new avatar andtalks about her love for everything wellness.

- Parineeta Sethi And Rama Ahuja

There’s something about Parineeti Chopra. Just when you slot her as playful, effervescent and full of life, you notice a glint of steely resolve in her eyes, especially when she talks about her transformation from a chubby girl to the shapely diva she is today. As a child, she had no ambition whatsoever of becoming an actress, so she went on to obtain a triple honours degree from Alliance Manchester Business School. But destiny had other plans...At the secluded beachfront setting of the luxurious Anantara Kalutara Resort she reveals that she rarely watched movies as a child; sports and academics kept her going. While shooting by the resort’s infinity pool, she speaks of her passion for scuba diving and can barely contain her excitement about being a certified diver. After the shoot, as we dine at the resort’s elegant Italian restaurant, Acquolina, she lets slip her love for a good pizza. And when we finally sit down for a chat in her airy and spacious two-bedroom pool villa, the conversation’s almost as easy and fun as that with an old friend.

You’ve transformed from the cute girl next door into a svelte diva over the last few months. What brought about this transformation?

I have struggled with my weight all my life. I weighed 86 kilograms when I came back from London and used to wear a UK size 16! Today, I can proudly say that I am a UK size 8, which is exactly half my original size. I had been so busy doing back-to-back films that there had hardly been any time for me to focus on myself. I also went through some lows in my personal life and that’s when I decided to focus on my health. There was no trigger as such; it came from within.