Rani Mukherji’s toned body in the forthcoming film Dil Bole Hadippa is the talk of tinsel town. The actress, informs her yoga instructor Payal Gidwani, had not worked out for a considerable stretch before beginning work on Dil Bole. “I was skeptical about what I was getting myself into when I first saw Rani but she told me to relax and said that we would easily achieve our target. It was her discipline that got us through,” says Gidwani.
The petite actress weighed 56 kilos in April last year. “Her ideal body weight is around 48 kilos, so she had to discard eight kilos.” The primary focus was to help Rani get her body back in shape and shed a few kilos in the process. The key, for anybody to lose weight, says Gidwani, is a disciplined lifestyle. A healthy diet plays a very important role. Add to that a diligent exercise regime and you have the recipe for a fab body. Gidwani, however, admits that this mantra is easier preached than practise.
Rani, she says, was a teacher’s delight. In fact, on several occasions Rani would get over enthusiastic with her workouts and Gidwani had to tell her to take it easy, and not burn herself out. “She has a record of not missing out on a single class, to date. Earlier she would work out for five days a week, two hours each day. Now we meet up thrice a week.” Bebo (Kareena Kapoor), is another student who is completely dedicated to her workout sessions.
Owing to her hereditary problem, her body tends to pile on the kilos easily, informs Gidwani. “Rani is a foodie but she never went on a diet and resorted to nutritious food instead. The trick is to eat all foods in small portions and then burn it out,” she adds.
It took Rani 10 months to lose eight kilos as the focus was more on inch loss than weight loss. A lot of toning and cardio was required for which Gidwani made the actress walk up and down the stairs of her bungalow, a number of times throughout the day, as part of her workout regime.
Rani’s weak points, says Gidwani, are her tendencies to pile on the kilos on the lower part of her body and her weak nerves. Her strengths, however, are a flexible body and immense endurance which helped with the yoga asanas.
Pushing limits
Rani could earlier manage only five to 10 Suryanamaskars. Any stretching exercise would lead to cramps because of her weak nerves. Today, Rani can easily do 100 Suryanamaskars and an approximate 2500 kapalbhatis at a go.
She can hold on to asanas for a minute and her breathing technique had improved too.
Gidwani’s tips
One could combine yoga and gym exercises. “I advise people to do three days of yoga and hit the gym for three days. And while in the gym, it’s preferable to do free hand exercises than pumping iron,” she says. Taking up a sport or dancing (as they increase the heart beat rate) also helps in the long run.
