<p>From his ‘Captain Vyom’ days to recent films like ‘David’ and ‘Jodi Breakers’, a lot has changed for supermodel-turned-actor Milind Soman. <br /><br /></p>.<p>While he makes time for at least one film a year, he channels most of his energy into promoting running in India. <br /><br />The reason why he started to run in 2004 was to feel like a ‘real man’. <br /><br />“When I was a kid, there were three things that I wanted to do – be a zookeeper, climb Mount Everest and run a full marathon, which I thought real men had to do. But I used to hate running, just like many others, because it takes a lot of effort. I was always fit and swam five hours a day till I was 23 because I was in the Indian national swimming team."<br /><br />"But once that stopped, I had the urge to do something because I had so much energy. In 2004, the ‘Mumbai Marathon’ was happening and I knew I had to do it. It was traumatic even till the 15th kilometre. But finishing 21 kilometres was surprisingly easy. So I did it again."<br /><br />"I ran from Delhi to Mumbai and from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. I realised that you have to struggle till a point where it’s effortless after which, it becomes enjoyable. I would love to run till I drop dead,” he tells Metrolife on a recent visit to the City.<br /><br />Though one might deem him crazy, Milind recently got addicted to running barefoot. <br /><br />“My first barefoot full marathon was in January. And now, I don’t wear any footwear 80 per cent of the time. It’s not a sacrifice but energising to feel at one with the earth. The feet have a lot of nerve endings and when they actually feel the surface, your body gets a signal about how to respond, which increases its efficiency in every movement,” he explains.<br /><br />Does he feel that his celebrity status is being shed because of running?<br /><br />“Everyone still treats me like a celebrity but it’s lesser because I’m much more accessible now. We did an event called ‘Megapink’ last November because people said that with ‘Pinkathon’, I was talking to women about breast cancer in major cities and not looking at smaller towns. So we invited people from anywhere in the country to participate in the three-kilometre run, where they had to get as many people to run on a single day."<br /> "Forty cities ran that day. That’s what I like about being famous — that I can do even a 100-city running event on one day if I choose to,” he says.<br /><br />There’s a lot more to him than running. <br /><br />On being asked about his ‘non-acting, non-running persona’, he shares, “I like to stare at the wall. I can do that for hours! I like to read quite a bit. And I don’t like to watch movies or listen to music.”<br />What film is he working on at present? <br /><br />“I just finished a film with Arvind Swamy, who acted in ‘Bombay’ and Roja. It’s a remake of a Marathi film called Kaksparsh, which is the Hindu ritual of feeding a crow when somebody dies,” he wraps up. </p>
<p>From his ‘Captain Vyom’ days to recent films like ‘David’ and ‘Jodi Breakers’, a lot has changed for supermodel-turned-actor Milind Soman. <br /><br /></p>.<p>While he makes time for at least one film a year, he channels most of his energy into promoting running in India. <br /><br />The reason why he started to run in 2004 was to feel like a ‘real man’. <br /><br />“When I was a kid, there were three things that I wanted to do – be a zookeeper, climb Mount Everest and run a full marathon, which I thought real men had to do. But I used to hate running, just like many others, because it takes a lot of effort. I was always fit and swam five hours a day till I was 23 because I was in the Indian national swimming team."<br /><br />"But once that stopped, I had the urge to do something because I had so much energy. In 2004, the ‘Mumbai Marathon’ was happening and I knew I had to do it. It was traumatic even till the 15th kilometre. But finishing 21 kilometres was surprisingly easy. So I did it again."<br /><br />"I ran from Delhi to Mumbai and from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. I realised that you have to struggle till a point where it’s effortless after which, it becomes enjoyable. I would love to run till I drop dead,” he tells Metrolife on a recent visit to the City.<br /><br />Though one might deem him crazy, Milind recently got addicted to running barefoot. <br /><br />“My first barefoot full marathon was in January. And now, I don’t wear any footwear 80 per cent of the time. It’s not a sacrifice but energising to feel at one with the earth. The feet have a lot of nerve endings and when they actually feel the surface, your body gets a signal about how to respond, which increases its efficiency in every movement,” he explains.<br /><br />Does he feel that his celebrity status is being shed because of running?<br /><br />“Everyone still treats me like a celebrity but it’s lesser because I’m much more accessible now. We did an event called ‘Megapink’ last November because people said that with ‘Pinkathon’, I was talking to women about breast cancer in major cities and not looking at smaller towns. So we invited people from anywhere in the country to participate in the three-kilometre run, where they had to get as many people to run on a single day."<br /> "Forty cities ran that day. That’s what I like about being famous — that I can do even a 100-city running event on one day if I choose to,” he says.<br /><br />There’s a lot more to him than running. <br /><br />On being asked about his ‘non-acting, non-running persona’, he shares, “I like to stare at the wall. I can do that for hours! I like to read quite a bit. And I don’t like to watch movies or listen to music.”<br />What film is he working on at present? <br /><br />“I just finished a film with Arvind Swamy, who acted in ‘Bombay’ and Roja. It’s a remake of a Marathi film called Kaksparsh, which is the Hindu ritual of feeding a crow when somebody dies,” he wraps up. </p>
