Showing posts with label Kangana Ranaut diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kangana Ranaut diet. Show all posts
I told myself, I am like [a] post pregnant Kareena Kapoor-Kangana Ranaut
8:19 AM
En-route to losing the 20 kilos she had gained for her next film, Kangana on withdrawal symptoms, and missing her heels
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; April 29, 2020)
We don’t expect the usual Kangana Ranaut candour in an interview largely about how many squats she packs into her regimen. But the actor isn’t one to offer the ordinary.
Unbowed by the heft of her battle against the bulge, Ranaut is playfully self-deprecating when chronicling her 20-kilo weight-loss attempt.
“I didn’t expect to gain 20 kilos,” she says of her endeavour to emulate J Jayalalithaa in the actor- politician’s upcoming biopic, Thalaivi.
“When Kareena [Kapoor Khan] was pregnant, she gained 16 kilos. I told myself, I am like [a] post-pregnant Kareena Kapoor!” she exclaims at one point, before breaking into a laugh. “I never remember feeling so unfit. At one point, I needed to support myself with my palms to stand up off the floor,” she says at another, before the ever-so-slight quiver in her voice reveals the moments that triggered her badly.
“I was unable to carry my weight in heels, and that almost left me in tears. One thinks they’ll eventually adjust, but, I couldn’t walk in my own shoes! Usually, I can run in them, but now my feet would swell. I didn’t know how to handle it.”
Train, but gain
The diligence with which she had kept tabs on the weighing scale as it climbed by 10, 12 and 15 kilos was rendered redundant after a few weeks of lull. “[The makers] told me to start losing weight so that we could shoot [Jayalalitha’s] younger portions, and that’s when I noticed that I had gained 20 kilos. I wondered if I had gone too far, and questioned if the decision to take the hormone injections was appropriate.”
It was towards the close of 2019 that Ranaut had first admitted to leaning on hormone supplements to add bulk to her hips and thighs, to emulate her muse. Unlike the misshapen built acquired by Bollywood’s top brass of actors gaining weight for cinema, Ranaut’s avatar, though voluptuous, had to resemble the shapely and nimble-footed bharatnatyam dancer that Jayalalitha was. “I had to do bharatnatyam for two hours, yoga for one, and still gain weight in a desirable manner. The mild hormone dosage helped [me] gain weight around the hips. Bharatnatyam involves a lot of leg work, so the dancers tend to [gain weight in this region]. Also, I needed to put on so much weight because I am tall. At 5’ 8", I had to ensure that the [bulk] was visible on my frame.”
Winning the race, slowly, steadily
Currently nestled in picturesque Manali, Ranaut decided to make the most of the lockdown by taking along her trainer of several years. Under the guidance of Siddhartha Singh, founder of iSweat, she has shaved off seven kilos, and continues to crawl, jump and jog off the rest. “We are focusing on workouts that encourage movement for a long duration of time, instead of those involving shorter intervals. The idea is to keep movements sustainable by not rendering her breathless, so that more calories can be burnt. The evening functional training sessions last 45 to 75 minutes, and are coupled with a 20-minute morning walk in her 100-metre driveway,” says Singh, attributing her body’s positive response to the regimen to her consistent yoga practice.
Her high metabolic rate may afford her many luxuries, but Ranaut won’t abuse what she has been blessed with. For as long as Singh can recall, she isn’t swayed by food that has little nutritional value, and prefers “home-cooked meals”. “Kangana is attuned to her body’s [nutritional] needs. If she craves something, she’ll have it in limited portion, or cook a [healthier] version of it at home.”
That her body had become complacent with the additional weight also began to work against her, making the weight-loss process more demanding than both she and Singh had anticipated. “It was difficult. I had to undergo detox. I was affected by the sugar withdrawal, and felt like I was in rehab. For over six months, I was perpetually hungry, and had mood [swings]. The weight wouldn’t budge. Also, at 33, things are not as easy [as they were when I was younger].”
Asked if she will do it all over again if a film demands it, her response is prompt, but not very assertive: “No, yaar!” she says. “It’s not worth it. My cholesterol level was quite high this time. In my 30s, I don’t enjoy doing this.”
Singh on principles he uses to train Ranaut
- We’re targeting the anterior and posterior muscles at once. We use the driveway to do short jogging sets, shuttle lunges, back crawls, and jumping jacks.
- Usually, I avoided exhausting her because actors have to work for the rest of the day, and can’t be dealing with aches and pains. I had to be mindful of not targeting the muscles that she would be using for her action films, like Manikarnika.
For instance, horse-riding employs a lot of leg work, and hence, when she was learning it, I’d only do weight-less leg workouts with her. Similarly, when she was training in sword- fighting, and using her upper-body muscles, I’d have to shift focus away from her shoulders and arms [in the gym].
- With physical activity currently limited, she is consuming only two to three meals a day. The morning jogs that she takes help in activating her metabolism.
Kangana Ranaut to gain 10 kilos for Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's Panga?
8:30 AM
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; October 20, 2018)
Given that she wowed the audience with her impeccable act as a hockey player in Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015), Kangana Ranaut seamlessly drew attention when news about her playing an athlete again, hit headlines. For Panga, Ranaut is set to up the bar to not only learn the tricks of kabaddi, but also physically transform herself to do justice to the part. The petite actor, we hear, will gain 10 kilos for Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's directorial offering.
A source close to Ranaut tells mid-day, "Kangana will start training in kabaddi as soon as she is back from her vacation in New York. Though she is familiar with the sport, she requires training to showcase it like a professional. But, before she starts doing so, she will gain weight. She is on a high-calorie protein diet, and, over the next month, intends to pack on six kilos." The source adds that as the film progresses, the actor will be expected to gain another four kilos for the part.
Packing on the pounds is going to be no mean feat for the actor, given that she is genetically small-framed. "Kangana may need to incorporate weight training exercises instead." A generous serving of nut shakes, fruits and tofu is expected to be on her dietary chart.
I looked more like a graceful dancer than a lethal warrior-Kangana Ranaut
7:50 AM
As told to Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 21, 2017)
As embarrassing as this may
sound, before I started work on the period action drama, Manikarnika, I
didn't even know that fencing was a professional sport. It was Hollywood
action director, Nick Powell, an expert in the field, who introduced me
to different kinds of sword fighting. The Chinese style is quick and
direct, the sword held straight out like the Japanese Samurai. The sword
is slightly bent in the Indian version, which goes back 1000 years and
is inspired by Kerala's martial arts form Kalaripayattu.
Having learnt ballet earlier, it was easy for me to grasp the choreography of the action sequences, but I looked more like a graceful dancer than a lethal warrior. Combat training requires a squat, Bharatanatyam-like pose, the legs spread wide, the knees slightly bent and the attacker balanced on the heels rather than poised on the toes like I was. So, there was a lot of unlearning to do before the actual learning.
Nick's main concern, and legitimately so, was that I wouldn't look convincing as a woman leading an army owning to my petite frame. And the makers couldn't invest me with any superpowers because Manikarnika was an extraordinary woman but very human, possessing extraordinary strength and skill. The only thing that worked in my favour is that my wrists are thin and flexible so I could wield two swords easily. But being a vegan, I was low on energy and needed to take breaks every 15 minutes. This exasperated Nick, who doesn't compromise on training, and he was prepared to fly back.
“If you can't achieve what we set out to do, I'm not going to make a fool of myself,“ he told me bluntly. I whined saying I had never done such intense training before and when I screamed, my head hurt. I asked him for some more time and he told me that we didn't have time. He had worked with Tom Cruise for four months on The Last Samurai and with Mel Gibson for a couple of months on Braveheart. He just had four weeks to get me battle ready and he wasn't making much headway.
So, then, I called my mother and asked her to send me some desi ghee. I would fry besan in this ghee, add jaggery and eat this every day, falling back on the diet followed in the olden days as my own lettuce diet didn't cut ice. I put on around six-seven kg, built up stamina and could train for four hours nonstop. And Nick stayed on.
My director, Krish, has portrayed the queen as a woman in action and in the course of my research, I learnt that wars then were personal and not fought from a control room using buttons. You cut open a person's organs, beheaded him, the blood gushing out, spilling over your face and clothes, as you moved to the next kill. You waited till the end of day to wash the blood down the drain, before waking up to a new battle cry. I had to desensitize myself to all the blood because in this respect, I've always been naturally timid. While in school, I would get the jitters if I had to cut open a mouse or a cockroach and so couldn't pursue science. For this prep, I called for meat at home and would butcher it.
Since swords are related to myths and folklore, they are romanticized to a point where you don't feel their threat. Nick calls the sword a blade, and when I was brandishing one, he'd tell me, “If I hold the blade like this, it will go straight through your throat,“ or “Your shoulder is exposed, I can get you there and you'll be dead.“ That made me realize this wasn't a game, if I didn't block myself, I could be fatally injured. The fact that we were using metal swords, even though they were blunt, added to the danger.
In my introductory sequence, I was on a horse, fighting with two swords, when my co-actor, Nihar Pandya, missed his cue and hit me. My face was covered in blood but since I was in character, I didn't react like the others, just calmly announced that we should go to the hospital. It was only later, when I was alone and resting, that I realized Manikarnika had influenced me to a degree that I didn't feel any pain. Even the fact that my face could have been disfigured hadn't made me panic because I had been on an adrenaline rush. “So what, it's just a battle scar,“ I had dismissed my producer's anxiety with something I had never felt before.
It's hard to understand the psyche of these people who lived on the edge and revelled in the thrill of escaping death. One wrong step, and your head is lying on the ground. I experienced these heightened emotions when I was on the battle field myself. During the 30-day schedule, we completed all the action scenes, including my introductory sequence, the sequence before the interval and the climax. Now, the drama portions will be shot over a 60-day schedule. The kind of violence you will see is unbelievable. I had to evoke a side of me I didn't know existed to live the warrior queen. There were times when even I was scared by this manifestation of Chandi Maa but it was the need of the hour and the script.
Having learnt ballet earlier, it was easy for me to grasp the choreography of the action sequences, but I looked more like a graceful dancer than a lethal warrior. Combat training requires a squat, Bharatanatyam-like pose, the legs spread wide, the knees slightly bent and the attacker balanced on the heels rather than poised on the toes like I was. So, there was a lot of unlearning to do before the actual learning.
Nick's main concern, and legitimately so, was that I wouldn't look convincing as a woman leading an army owning to my petite frame. And the makers couldn't invest me with any superpowers because Manikarnika was an extraordinary woman but very human, possessing extraordinary strength and skill. The only thing that worked in my favour is that my wrists are thin and flexible so I could wield two swords easily. But being a vegan, I was low on energy and needed to take breaks every 15 minutes. This exasperated Nick, who doesn't compromise on training, and he was prepared to fly back.
“If you can't achieve what we set out to do, I'm not going to make a fool of myself,“ he told me bluntly. I whined saying I had never done such intense training before and when I screamed, my head hurt. I asked him for some more time and he told me that we didn't have time. He had worked with Tom Cruise for four months on The Last Samurai and with Mel Gibson for a couple of months on Braveheart. He just had four weeks to get me battle ready and he wasn't making much headway.
So, then, I called my mother and asked her to send me some desi ghee. I would fry besan in this ghee, add jaggery and eat this every day, falling back on the diet followed in the olden days as my own lettuce diet didn't cut ice. I put on around six-seven kg, built up stamina and could train for four hours nonstop. And Nick stayed on.
My director, Krish, has portrayed the queen as a woman in action and in the course of my research, I learnt that wars then were personal and not fought from a control room using buttons. You cut open a person's organs, beheaded him, the blood gushing out, spilling over your face and clothes, as you moved to the next kill. You waited till the end of day to wash the blood down the drain, before waking up to a new battle cry. I had to desensitize myself to all the blood because in this respect, I've always been naturally timid. While in school, I would get the jitters if I had to cut open a mouse or a cockroach and so couldn't pursue science. For this prep, I called for meat at home and would butcher it.
Since swords are related to myths and folklore, they are romanticized to a point where you don't feel their threat. Nick calls the sword a blade, and when I was brandishing one, he'd tell me, “If I hold the blade like this, it will go straight through your throat,“ or “Your shoulder is exposed, I can get you there and you'll be dead.“ That made me realize this wasn't a game, if I didn't block myself, I could be fatally injured. The fact that we were using metal swords, even though they were blunt, added to the danger.
In my introductory sequence, I was on a horse, fighting with two swords, when my co-actor, Nihar Pandya, missed his cue and hit me. My face was covered in blood but since I was in character, I didn't react like the others, just calmly announced that we should go to the hospital. It was only later, when I was alone and resting, that I realized Manikarnika had influenced me to a degree that I didn't feel any pain. Even the fact that my face could have been disfigured hadn't made me panic because I had been on an adrenaline rush. “So what, it's just a battle scar,“ I had dismissed my producer's anxiety with something I had never felt before.
It's hard to understand the psyche of these people who lived on the edge and revelled in the thrill of escaping death. One wrong step, and your head is lying on the ground. I experienced these heightened emotions when I was on the battle field myself. During the 30-day schedule, we completed all the action scenes, including my introductory sequence, the sequence before the interval and the climax. Now, the drama portions will be shot over a 60-day schedule. The kind of violence you will see is unbelievable. I had to evoke a side of me I didn't know existed to live the warrior queen. There were times when even I was scared by this manifestation of Chandi Maa but it was the need of the hour and the script.
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