Actress Bipasha Basu is considered as one of the fittest actresses in Bollywood. But Bipasha said that to become fit she had to make many sacrifices and work very hard.

“When people call me the fittest actress in Bollywood, they don't see the obstacles I've overcome to be here. In the past, I've been too thin as well as too curvy. On top of that, I had osteoarthritis of knees. It was so severe that knee transplant was considered an option too but thankfully, I didn't give up and worked on strengthening my leg muscles. However, not a day goes by I don't feel some needle-like pain in my knees, I keep telling myself that I want to remain independent even in old age,” said Bipasha Basu to Mid-Day.

The actress said that it took 7 years of rigorous training to achieve the fitness level.

“I've been a fitness freak for the past seven years and I can tell you that once you're into working out, you want others to follow suit too. It's a pretty natural reaction. The positive response for my first video made me work harder for this one. In this sequel, I have mixed dancing steps for 68 routine exercises, which involves a lot of tapping. Dancing is an enjoyable way of burning the calories,” said the actress, whose first fitness video went on to become very popular.

But the actress believes that being thin and fit are complete different things. And people who are curvy can also be extremely fit.

“First of all, thin is not fit and fat could be healthy too. A guy with six-pack abs doesn't always mean that he's fit. Fitness is more about stamina, endurance, muscle power and ability to fight disease. Sadly, the undue pressure on younger kids to emulate their role models results in problems like anorexia and bulimia. This could be solved by widespread education. They should be told that sportspersons are the real epitome of fitness,” she said.

When it came to her male counterparts she thinks that Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan are extremely fit and work very hard.

“Actors are meant to be conscious of their looks but the first celebrity to popularize fitness was Salman Khan. Akshay Kumar is another actor who is very particular and disciplined and it shows in his personality. Hrithik Roshan is a lot like me as he too fought a lot of handicap to come up with the stunning physique that he has today. Shah Rukh Khan, with his a sports background in hockey and football, not only defies age but also is extremely energetic,” she concluded.

Bipasha Basu was last seen in the horror movie ‘Raaz 3’. The actress has a cameo in upcoming movie ‘Race 2’.