For Bobby Deol, turning his sagging career around has been as much about positivity as transforming his physique in four months
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; July 25, 2018)

Bobby Deol is fortunate that his body responds to workouts easily. "I'm lucky," he says, moments after warning that body transformation stories, like his own, are a result of toiling away at the gym for months.

As far as he's concerned, he pulled off the feat in four months. And though blessed with great Punjabi genes, it's evident that he isn't willing to let the change he made happen for Race 3 get wasted.

We get a groggy welcome from Deol's dogs on a Wednesday morning at his Juhu bungalow. The 7 am call time with trainer Rakesh Udiyar, is to ensure he gets his dose at the gym before jetting off to London a few hours later.

From being the man who was "not in the mood" to train, Deol is now obsessive about his routine, even a month after the release of Race 3, which had moviegoers ooh-aahing at his fit frame.

"Many a times, I've called my trainer at 5 am. [After Race 3] things have changed. Now, unless I've trained, I find myself thinking about my impending workout, all day long," he says between sets at his home gym.

In a corner of his fourth floor terrace, the facility brims with weight training equipment that carry the weight of their own history. The machines reveal that generations of the Deol family have been whipped into great shape at their expense. Even though he does, Deol doesn't need to tell us that he's old school.

"It's because of the traditional methods of training that I believe in, that I think, weight training has brought about a significant change [in me]. Also, I have Rakesh to thank. I've trained with many coaches, including [Varun Dhawan's trainer] Prashant Sawant, since [his facility is] close by, but when Salman asked me if I'd like to train with his trainer, I was game. I mean, look at Salman!" he says in praise of Udiyar, who is also responsible for Aamir Khan's physical transformation for wrestling drama, Dangal.

Having found himself in Khan's fold since the actor needed a makeover for Sultan, Udiyar evidently holds his words close. "When bhai briefed me about how Bobby needed to look in Race 3, I knew I only had four months to work with him. I put him through a food intolerance test and a medical history test to check for ailments [that could affect or slow down my process]. Once cleared, we started working diligently," he says.

But switching gears from a monotonous, thematic workout to match pace with Udiyar's 'giant', 'drop' and 'super' sets could rattle even the fittest. "Initially, he did find it difficult," admits the trainer, adding, "but, we both knew that this is what bhai wanted; this was the need of the hour for the film. That kept him going. I could see that he wanted to achieve this for the film, and for himself."

Not one to downplay the effort put into acquiring such definition a year shy of hitting 50, Deol admits he had a lot working in his favour. He isn't lured easily by food. In fact, "mostly a vegetarian while on the Keto diet a while ago", Deol found himself watchfully consuming protein-rich non-vegetarian food only at Udiyar's behest. "That's because I was training hard and needed to build muscle. In fact, while I was against consuming protein shakes, it was only after I was educated about the fact that they are merely meal replacements that I was willing to consume them. You get them in cookie-cream flavour, and you can add peanut butter too. Who knew you could enjoy peanut butter when on a diet?"

Deol knows maintaining this shape is tougher than achieving it. "I know my trainer would be happier if I did more cardiovascular workouts. He hates that I don't. But I have a functional training component that also increases the heart rate, thus achieving similar benefits."

Ruling out his weekly indulgences as motivation to hit the gym, Deol says he is inspired by what he sees in the mirror. "Heading to the gym takes a lot [from an individual], but once you start seeing results, you're instantly motivated. You have to start liking what you see in the mirror. I sense that people look at me differently. If my body reacts to training this way now, I wonder how it would have been, had I trained [well] in my 20s. I'd probably have had the best physique in Bollywood."

10 percent is Deol's approximate body fat percentage
*A person with a body fat percentage between 6 and 13 is considered to have an athletic body*

Rakesh Udiyar on Deol's training
We train together for six days a week, targeting a specific body segment each day. We conclude sessions with cardiovascular activity. There's also skipping and boxing, apart from functional training, that we incorporate. I am mindful of his routine, and the length and nature of sessions depend on his schedule. While the regimen is not easy, I don't tire him. For instance, on days when he heads to dance class, I don't train the lower body. Also, he primarily follows a low carbohydrate and high protein diet, and has benefited from the plan.

Deol on cheat meals
While I avoid sugar, I do have chocolates, sometimes. Also, I love pancakes, and had almost forgotten how good they tasted. When shooting for Race 3, we were instructed to have a cheat meal every seven days. For breakfast, I'd have five pancakes, complete with honey syrup and butter.

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; April 17, 2018)

Last year, Bobby Deol had mentioned in an interview how, despite being a huge star in the ’90s, he had suddenly lost his stardom and wasn’t receiving any film offers. A year later, he has three movies in his kitty and is also in talks for a few other projects. He is fitter than ever before and some people have even opined that he’s looking his best right now. Recently, several pictures of his metamorphosis took social media by a storm.

We spoke to Bobby about what prompted him to reinvent himself and the actor made some interesting revelations...

ON THE WORK FRONT
Bobby will be seen next in Race 3, Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se and Housefull 4. The actor tells us, “People always wanted to work with me, but they thought I wasn’t interested. I have been in the industry for so many years. Some of my movies have worked well, while others haven’t. It’s not that I had no hits. I had slowed down and people thought I had lost interest in acting. But now, they know that I’m back. Also, positivity helps a lot. You attract more people and do good work.”

THE TRIGGER BEHIND THE TRANSFORMATION
There’s a striking change in the before and after images of Bobby. He explains that things changed for the better when he altered his outlook towards life. “Earlier, I took the concept of fitness lightly,” admits the 49-year-old, before adding, “A couple of years ago, I was moving slower and time was flying past me. I was left behind and when things are not going right, you don’t take care of yourself. Gradually, I realised I had to move forward and stand tall.” He says that developing a positive attitude helped him immensely.

“My wife would tell me, you should be prepared for everything. Work can come anytime and you need to be ready for it. It was not that my fans weren’t ready to watch me, but I wasn’t paying attention to myself. When I started doing so, I got a call from Salman and Race 3 happened.”

WHAT WENT INTO IT
Bobby calls Salman the ‘angel who motivated him’. “He is truly an inspiration. He believed in me and made me understand that I should take better care of my body.” He reveals that his superstar friend, who is also his co-star in Race 3, got his personal trainer Rakesh Udiyar to work on him as well. “He is the head coach but I train with his assistant, Prajwal, who’s always with me. Rakesh is Salman’s trainer but monitors the workouts that I do every day,” he says.

He rues, “I’ve put my life and soul to get the best physique I can for the film. This industry is ruled by perception and I’m happy that the transformation has changed everyone’s outlook towards me.”

Bobby reveals, “I exercise for one-and-a-half hours every day with weights and cardio. You need to burn the calories, fats and also gain muscles. Earlier, I used to work out, but now I’m pushing the levels.” Is this his best version, we ask. And pat comes the response, “I don’t know if that’s true. But, yes, I am happy with the response. People have liked my metamorphosis.”

Apart from rigorous workouts, the actor also followed a diet that was rich in protein and fibre. He informs us, “Eighty per cent of the transformation is because of what you consume. You need to eat the right kind of food. I cut down on my alcohol intake completely, because you can’t get fit by intoxicating yourself,” he laughs. “I eat a lot of proteins and fibre. As protein is difficult to digest, you need to have fibre, too. Occasionally, you need to have a cheat meal which gives you that extra energy.” Ask him about his guilty pleasure and he smiles, “I am off sugar completely, except when I eat chocolates at times, because that’s my only weakness.”

Bobby also shares an important tip for every other ordinary man. “Earlier, I had started following a keto diet. Keto gets you off sugar totally. Sugar might be comfort food but is the biggest enemy and no one realises that. If you stop sugar and wheat, you will see how drastically your body changes. Today, wheat is so refined and due to the huge demand, people adopt several artificial methods to grow them faster. It’s the worst grain to have,” he avers.

THE PLAN AHEAD
With a strong line-up of films, Bobby’s career is definitely back on track. He says, “I’m definitely in a happier zone. However, there’s also an insecurity about whether it will continue as we are always craving for more work. Today, all actors are commodities and you have to sell yourself. So, you need to have the right attitude.”

He adds that he doesn’t want to relegate himself to certain kinds of roles. “I’m part of films where our characters stand out the most, not just the main star cast. The strategy is to stay fit and people will come to me. I didn’t realise how media has changed and how you have to keep putting yourself more out there. It makes a lot of difference to people who read it. My family and I have always been honest. We say what we have in our hearts,” Bobby signs off.