Yes. Fitness is very important, especially if you are working in the movie industry. Let me explain with an example.
This is the popular South Indian actress Meena. She was the no.1 south Indian heroine during the 90’s and has the unique distinction of starring opposite all the South Indian Superstars.
Her debut in Malayalam industry was as a child actress in Oru Kochu Katha Aarum Parayatha katha.
Later she acted in a Malayalam movie called Rakshasa Rajavu as a heroine.
She has also acted as supporting character in a Malayalam movie called Balyakalasakhi, where she played as the mother of the hero.
I hope, you have noticed Mammootty in all the above images. Yes, Meena has acted with Mammootty as a child artist, as a heroine and even as a supporting actress, that too as his mother. I think, there are not many actors who have achieved this kind of a feat and I guess, this example speaks volumes about how important is fitness, especially for an actor to maintain his physique to play lead roles and maintain his stardom over the time. Yes, I am talking about the fitness of actor Mammootty.
Mammootty is around 69 years old now and has completed more than 40 years in the industry, but still he looks better and fit than any other actor in Malayalam cinema.
He is enough fit to do justice to all his characters and for him fitness is not about 6 packs or muscular body. Mammootty was aware of the importance of fitness from the beginning of his career and he achieved his physique by following a healthy diet and daily work out. He is the biggest inspiration for all the young actors in Malayalam cinema and here Prithviraj speaks about how Mammootty influenced him to maintain his fitness.
I have also written another answer here and you can see yourself Mammootty’s looks during various stages of his film career right from his debut. Abhijith Vijay (അഭിജിത് വിജയ്)'s answer to What celebrities look better with age?
Source: All pictures are from Google.