Showing posts with label Aditya Roy Kapur fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aditya Roy Kapur fitness. Show all posts
Professionals who’ve worked with Kriti Sanon, Preity Zinta, Kiara Advani, Janhvi Kapoor open up
8:29 AM
Sahil Rasheed has trained Janhvi Kapoor and Dhairya Karwa, Robin Behl has trained Kriti Sanon, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kiara Advani, Ibrahim Ali Khan, and Adarsh Gourav. Pics/Instagram
Professionals who’ve worked with Kriti, Preity, Kiara, Janhvi, on what goes behind bagging the coveted tag
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; January 31, 2024)
How did you bag your first celebrity client?
Robin Behl: I interacted with Kriti Sanon in the lockdown when she had to lose weight post Mimi. Her management team had been training with me, and they introduced us. We started connecting virtually, and today she’s a partner in our company.
Deanne Pandey: Preity Zinta was a very close friend, and she was working on Salaam Namaste. She had to wear tiny skirts, and flaunt a flat midriff, so she began to train with me. Even today, she tells me that that was the fittest she has ever been. She was the first Bollywood actor I trained.
Sahil Rasheed: My first client was Patralekhaa, who came to check out the gym I was working at. I was [asked] to show her around, and she subsequently began to train with me. Thereafter, she introduced me to Rajkummar [Rao], and that’s how my clientele built up.
How is training a celebrity different from training a layman?
Robin: They have no time, because they’re filming for 12 hours a day. They’ve got 100 things to do, and they need to train and maintain. So, one needs to build a relationship with them. If they don’t trust you, it’s not going to work out at all, especially due to the erratic schedule. I try to understand their physical, emotional, and mental needs. They keep doing so much to their bodies, that it can be tough to cope—one look for one film, and then another for the next. So, it’s not like they’re constantly in a particular shape. You need to manipulate the sessions to keep them interested.
Deanne: Many years ago, people didn’t exercise regularly. It wasn’t part of their lifestyle, like it is today. Back then, they’d just train for two months before a movie would go on floors. So, we needed to accomplish a lot in limited time—address their nutritional needs, conduct medical tests, and train to achieve desired results. But, they were always disciplined. Bollywood has always been very aesthetic and body-centric. Even 30 years ago, I always practiced in a holistic way. Even if the window was short, I kept a check on their sleeping patterns, and stress levels.
Are celebrities more disciplined than laymen?
Robin: Yes, because it’s not only about the training—it’s also about the dance, acting, diction and speech. Their attention is divided because there are so many aspects that need to be addressed. So, only when there’s mutual respect will things be smooth sailing.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve made a celebrity do to achieve a desired look?
Robin: The sessions we had with Adi [Aditya Roy Kapur] for The Night Manager were different, if not crazy. He was shooting for 14 hours a day, and I’d be in his room at 5 am to wake him up to train, and would be waiting for him right after he wrapped up too. I knew he was so exhausted that if he sat down to rest, he wouldn’t get himself to train. So, we’d train before he could [call it a day]. It’s not an easy thing to do because acting is physically draining too, and we were in Sri Lanka, where the temperature was not favourable. He’d be pissed off with me, and I had no chill, but we had to get it done.
Three days prior [to the climax scene], we cut out salt from his diet. But, if I felt he needed [a boost], I’d give him a bit of dark chocolate or do something to keep the energy up. Every time we meet, we talk about how we wouldn’t want to go down that route again.
A myth about training a celebrity:
Robin: That they are super difficult. They’re not. Or that you need to be at their beck and call, which also isn’t true. If you have a structured approach and a good understanding, that’s enough to train a celebrity. Another one is that you can train only one celebrity at a time. That’s also not true. I’m working with Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kiara [Advani], Kriti, Ibrahim [Ali Khan], and Adarsh [Gourav].
Sahil: It’s not a level-playing field. Understand that celebrities have access to a lot of specialists, including physiotherapists. So, even if they have a small niggle, we need to get the green signal from the physio before proceeding. So, there’s a lot of change in the programme. This is also due to occupational hazards. When I was training Janhvi Kapoor for Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, she had been training with a person from the military, and had developed some back issues. So, we had to address those. Creating a plan that is practical for the actor, regardless of the character she is set to play [is also vital]. Also, often, they have to achieve a lot in a short span of time, and that requires one to understand the emotional toll that the process can take. When I trained Shriyam Bhagnani for Sumo Didi, we had a short window to train an 85-kilo actor to do a split and nab strength training. Often, she’d cry during the process. But, she got better as we went along.
How do you manage your clientele when you travel with celebrities for the duration of their shoot?
Robin: It was important for me to travel with Aditya, because a major part of the shoot involved body-shots. If it’s not a body-shot, I don’t travel. We also have a team. So, I may send somebody with a brief. I have programmed everything. They just need to execute it. Also, now we can train individuals virtually. Cell phones and gyms are accessible.
I have my days when I feel unattractive-Aditya Roy Kapur
3:46 PM
Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; September 9, 2023)
Considered one of Bollywood’s most eligible bachelors, Aditya Roy Kapur is among the fittest actors of his generation. And while he enjoys all the attention he gets from the ladies, he admits that it isn’t easy to maintain that level of fitness, what we’d call ‘hotness quotient’. In a quick tête-à-tête, the actor reveals what goes into looking the way he does, the appreciation he got for his OTT debut and more. Excerpts...
‘I don’t have a six-pack all the time!’
While he’s undeniably good-looking and loves the compliments coming his way from fans, Aditya confesses that he’s quite critical about his own self. “We are all so critical of ourselves and we constantly feel... oh, I am fat, oh, I am this, I am that, when actually others feel that you are looking just fine. So, it is all about perspective, right? I am like anybody else. I have my days when I don’t feel good about myself or feel unattractive. I don’t have a six-pack all the time! Also, because I am tall, everything else gets distributed (on my body). I might appear very fit, but I am not that fit all the time. I am constantly feeling like I need to lose weight. I have self-doubts like anyone else has. Having said that, the compliments I get are flattering. At least all the hard work and the dieting has some upside to it (laughs)!”
‘It is tough to stay in shape, especially if you are a foodie’
Ask Aditya, if there’s anything he would like to change about his body and pat comes his reply, “I want to change my metabolism. There are some people who are blessed where they can eat whatever they want, and they don’t put on weight. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with me. If I eat, I put on weight instantly. It is tough to stay in shape, especially for someone who’s a foodie. I have to be extremely disciplined if I have to be in shape. If I lose track and cheat for 3-4 days in a row, I try and get back in shape in the next 10 days. Earlier, I used to put on 15 kilos and then get busy losing those 15 kilos. But as you get older, more than physically, it is mentally taxing to be that extreme. So, it’s better to keep a watch on my food intake.”
‘I will get bored if I have to look a certain type all the time’
As an actor, you are always under pressure to look good, but if a character demands that I have to look overweight or not flaunt a chiselled body, I am absolutely okay with it. In fact, in my repertoire of movies, I have done films that did not focus on my physical attributes like Kalank, Ludo, Daawat-e-Ishq and I definitely want to continue to do that, otherwise, I will get bored looking a certain type all the time.”
‘I have had such special projects in my career at various junctures’
The actor won a lot of praise for his OTT debut, The Night Manager, in fact, with the series he has grabbed more eyeballs than ever before. “I don’t know if it’s ‘the most’ (I’ve been appreciated), but I definitely feel appreciated. The appreciation and acclaim have been heartwarming. I feel at various junctures in your career a project comes along which cuts across and crosses over. Back in the day, a project that changed things for me was Aashiqui 2. I won a lot of love and appreciation for that film. I feel Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was quite special too. So yes, I have had such special projects in my career, and it is really nice to savour these as an actor,” he says.
I’d wake Aditya Roy Kapur up early and send him off on a run-Robin Behl
8:11 AM
Whipping Aditya Roy Kapur into ship shape for his swoon-worthy appearance in The Night Manager, trainer Robin Behl on the techniques that worked in their favour
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; August 2, 2023)
Considering the athletic frame that he has sported throughout his career, one would assume that Aditya Roy Kapur would have had to up his fitness regimen by only a small proportion to acquire the lithe physique of Shaan Sengupta in The Night Manager.
“I’d wake him up early and send him off on a run. I’d make him execute drills, like push-ups and pull-ups. There was a fair amount of weight-lifting work, callisthenics, and floor work involved. We also incorporated some amount of martial arts training,” says Robin Behl, before adding, “But you are right. He has an incredible physique!”
Behl has turned his attention to athletic techniques that prioritize “good quality” movement over “traditional forms in which you’re simply lifting without purpose]”. That Kapur’s Shaan, a former navy officer, also needed to come across as someone who has “freedom of movement” implies that Behl’s learnings could indeed serve Kapur.
“Primarily, a lot of strength and conditioning work was involved. We didn’t want to focus on what this could do for this project alone because we wanted to develop [techniques] that could serve him for other projects as well. So, it wasn’t about the aesthetics alone. I love gymnastic rings, and also incorporated weighted exercises into his routine. Fasted cardio works well for him, and we injected small bits of cardiovascular training into his weight-training routine to burn fat. When callisthenics is blended with lifting, you can create a [holistic] routine. While movements like pull-ups and push-ups work on the entire group of muscles and improve stability, isolated weight-lifting exercises helped me train the muscles that [needed to be enhanced for the show].”
If it wasn’t for the resolute Kapur, Behl admits navigating the long training schedule during the shoot, battling extreme temperatures, and keeping him on a caloric restriction that was only sufficient to sustain his activities, wouldn’t have been possible. “We didn’t want to drive him to a stage of burn-out. There was barely any gap between [the shooting schedules] and we wanted him to retain his energy levels. If he was pushed to exhaustion, his body wouldn’t react. We were doing a mix of a lot of movement. We ensured that he tracked his nutrition, ate clean and limited his intake to the amount his body [essentially] required, and kept his macros in check. Three days before a body shot, we’d eliminate salt from his diet. He’d be on minimal calories and would consume a low-carb diet. At one time, he was eating only 1,800 calories, [which could be difficult to adhere to] since he is a big guy. While he was in a deficit, I couldn’t push him or make him lift heavy weights. There had to be a sync between his nutrition, training, and [rest]. It’s a relationship between three elements. I had to ascertain that he was getting the required amount of rest and that his stress levels were in check. But, Aditya takes on any task [with diligence]. He doesn’t have a half-hearted approach. So, even after a 12 to 14-hour shooting schedule, when he’d see me waiting for him, he’d be ready to train within five minutes.”
The producers felt that the title, Rashtra Kavach OM, would connect more with the audience-Aditya Roy Kapur
8:13 AM
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; June 26, 2022)
Rashtra Kavach OM is Aditya Roy Kapur’s first full-blown action film. In a chat with Bombay Times, the actor spoke about his action avatar, the work that went behind looking the part, lessons learnt and his admiration for Sanjay Dutt as an action hero. Excerpts:
You have been in the film industry for over a decade now and were a VJ before that. What have been your learning lessons as an actor in showbiz?
As you get older, you realise that everything is transient. You have to keep going back to work every day. Don’t fly too high when things go well and too low when they don’t. You should not allow yourself to get swayed by the ups and downs. If I were to give a message from my experience to aspiring actors, I would say, work gets you work. Don’t give up any opportunities at work. Don’t wait for that perfect time. If you have an opportunity, take it. You never know what it might lead you to.
The title of your upcoming film OM: The Battle Within has been changed to Rashtra Kavach OM barely two weeks before the film’s release. What led to this decision?
Maybe the new title is more relatable. I think the producers felt that Rashtra Kavach OM would connect more with the audience. It’s one of the two main conflicts in the film. The story is about patriotism and these are the relevant themes of it. They felt the new title would resonate more with the audience. Whether it will help or not, only time will tell.
This is your first full-blown action film. Tell us what was it about the script that struck you the most?
This film has a strong emotional anchor and that takes the story forward, that’s what struck me the most. Action is the icing on the cake and that is the beauty of the film. It’s a story about a family. It’s about the mother-son bond as well as a son looking for his father, his quest for truth and his responsibilities towards his job and the country. The story has many layers, so this was an interesting character to play. Of course, external factors like the action scenes are also there. Director Kapil Verma and producer Ahmed Khan have put in a lot of action in the film, but what drew me to the film was its emotional core.
You have always been athletic, given your football background, but action is a different beast. How tough was it to get into shape to play a para commando?
I have done the whole gym thing before. I had bulked up a lot for Malang, but this one needed me to learn action. Ahmed sir and Kapil were clear that they wanted me to do the stunts. I underwent rigorous action training for three-and-a-half months as the action had to look realistic. Interestingly, action is the antithesis of bodybuilding. You lose muscle when you do action, so I had to train accordingly. If I trained for action scenes for two hours in the morning, I had to work out for two hours in the evening to rebuild muscle. It was extra tough as I had to bulk up a bit as well. This is the most physically demanding role of my career so far.
Speaking of physically demanding roles, are you happy to be able to shed the strict diet and work discipline as soon as a film wraps up?
It is tough to maintain a strict diet beyond the shooting schedule. I like my food! Every now and then, I need to go off the rails on a three-day food bender, but not more than that. As soon as I wrapped up this film, I went to my parents’ house and had delicious mutton curry cooked by my dad. I work well when I have a goal. I put my blinkers on and focus. Once it’s done, it’s important for me to let my hair down. Earlier I used to yo-yo. I used to lose a lot of weight and then gain a lot, and that can get mentally tiring. I have reached a sort of equilibrium in the last two-three years where I am a little more consistent. I no longer allow myself to undergo three months of crash diet to get into shape. I am at a physical stage where 20 days of workout is sufficient for me. Consistency has found its way into my life.
For a major part of your career, we have seen you portraying these world-weary, intense characters that take to alcohol and drown in their sorrows. Are you happy to break away from that brooding mould and venture into an out-and-out action film with a patriotic fervour?
I don’t think I am veering too far away from the complicated characters I have played so far. Funnily, this film has patriotism and action, but my character here too has an emotional side. It has all the ingredients of my previous roles (smiles). This was also an emotionally draining film for me and it had its set of challenges. Once you see the film, you’ll realise that this character has been put through a whole set of situations that could weigh heavy on anyone. This role gave me something to sink my teeth into as well.
Do you wonder why these emotionally intense roles are offered to you when you don’t really have a brooding personality in real life...
(Laughs!) I do wonder that! Well, there have been films like Ludo, OK Jaanu and Daawat-e-Ishq where I have played lighter roles and believed in the brighter side of life. I guess the roles that stood out have been the more intense ones. As an actor, I think I have also got a chance to showcase my other side. My filmography has been fairly varied, but yes, I would like to do more comedy and varied stuff for sure. One doesn’t want to keep doing the same thing again and again.
Rashtra Kavach OM is your foray into action and comparisons with the likes of John Abraham, Tiger Shroff and Vidyut Jammwal are inevitable since they have dominated this space for a while now. How does it feel to venture into t heir territory?
I take it in a positive way because these guys have done such amazing work in this genre. This is my first step into it. It will take me a few more action films before I can be compared to these guys. If the comparisons are still made, I would be flattered by them. Who doesn’t want to be compared to something or someone good!
Growing up, who was your favourite action hero?
Sanjay Dutt’s personality is most striking. He has this aura and an edgy look. He built a great physique back in the day when it wasn’t common, and that was inspiring.
Check out Aditya Roy Kapur's extreme makeover in two months for Malang
7:57 AM
The actor trained in martial arts, flexibility and endurance and went off sugar, salt to go from lean in the first half to bulked-up in the later parts of his romantic-thriller
Hiren Kotwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 9, 2020)
For his turn as the protagonist in Mohit Suri’s Malang, Aditya Roy Kapur had to undergo an extreme makeover—while his character is lean in the first half of the film, the second half sees him in a bulked-up avatar.Mohit, who is reuniting with his Aashiqui 2 hero after seven years with this Bhushan Kumar, Luv Ranjan and Jay Shewakaramani production, which also features Disha Patani, Anil Kapoor and Kunal Kemmu, says, “Aditya’s two looks can be defined as hippy—which is actually him off-camera—and the muscular hero. It’s easy if you have six months to go from one look to the next, but he has done it in two months, living without sugar and salt when we were shooting portions in which he had to look ripped. Then, he started eating all the time to be bigger; it’s a difficult job.”
As part of his prep, Aditya entrusted his fitness trainer, Sudarshan Amkar, to help him achieve the physicality of his character when he transforms into a compulsive killer. For the combat scenes, the actor took up training in martial arts, flexibility and endurance. “We would spend two-three hours in the gym every day. In the evenings, I suggested he do cardio for half-an-hour,” says Sudarshan, who also convinced Aditya to buy a treadmill, so he could get the cardio in at home.
The daily sessions would begin with stretches, followed by mobility and strength training. “We’d start the warmups with yoga, and to increase mobility we used Kalaripayattu and various forms of martial arts. Aditya would run for 20 minutes after every training session to improve stamina,” explains Sudarshan, adding that he ensured Aditya followed a strict nutrition plan.
— with inputs from Himesh Mankad
Aditya Roy Kapur reduces body fat to 7%
8:31 AM
Aditya Roy Kapur lowers body fat, but has no intention of staying that lean
Harshada Rege (DNA; January 4, 2016)
Some actors act as characters. Others become them.
Like Farhan Akhtar in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag? Ranbir Kapoor in Rockstar and R
Madhavan in the soon-to-release Saala Khadoos. Actors who transform
themselves completely for a part are remembered for generations. When an
actor dissolves into a character, a physical transformation — subtle or
extreme are in order.
Body sculpting
Aditya Roy Kapur is (and we hope he succeeds in doing so) taking fitness beyond the six and eight-pack craze in B-Town. In Fitoor, he has opted for body sculpting, which is the way the Hollywood hotties do. Body sculpting is a technique used to shape the muscles in one’s body to perfection without bulking up. It is a gruelling process for which Aditya first worked towards losing muscle mass and then reducing the percentage of body fat in his body down to an incredible seven per cent!
Key is consistency
Aditya says, “I have been following this regime on and off for a year-and-a-half now. After filming some sequences, I let go a little bit and I had to lose weight all over again, which was quite frustrating. So I’ve learnt that this lifestyle has to be consistent.”
About his current regime, he says, “Right now, I’m not going with the same intensity that I was when I was preparing for filming. Now, it’s just about maintaining and slowly improving on my weak areas. When I was preparing for the role, there wasn’t enough time to concentrate on those areas. Now it’s about doing it in a more relaxed manner.”
Training tales
Though it was a gruelling regime for months, Aditya says he loved the process of surrendering himself to the character. He worked with Prashant Sawant and Praveen Nair. “They both trained me at different stages. I also trained a lot by myself. I like training alone. Otherwise, I find I get too dependent on someone else for motivation.”
According to the American Council on Exercise, male athletes typically range from six per cent to 13 per cent body fat.
While Fitoor will release on February 12, the trailer will be launched today. So the question is: how long does he plan to maintain his current form, he says, “I don’t plan on maintaining that low body fat. I love food and can’t completely stay away from the good stuff so I will try and keep myself 15-20 days away from being at my optimum.”
No break for Aditya
The actor is so committed to his current fitness regime he didn’t go on a holiday for New Year’s because he didn’t want to miss his workout and go off diet. The actor confirms, “I find that over the course of this last year-and-a-half, I’ve learnt a lot about myself and my tendencies. I’ve experienced it before that I’ve not been able to control my urge on holiday and then, I’m back in Mumbai cursing myself for letting go so this time I chose to just not put myself in that predicament and keep it simple and understand my priorities.”
Dos and dont's
Like every fitness regime that yields result, this one two has it’s share of dos and don’ts. Aditya confesses, “Well, the dos are drink lots of water, get enough fibre and carbs as well, as they are important. The dont's are don’t be too extreme with any diet, it can really end up harming your system and immunity. Also, one cheat meal is fine but keep it at one because if you do another then it’s a slippery slope.”
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