What came first? The chicken or the egg? For Sandalwood film stars, it seems to be a bit of both — as they go on high protein diets to get the perfect body for their onscreen avatars. Take Challenging Star Darshan for instance, who is seen flaunting his chiselled body in his most-anticipated movie of the year Mr Airavata directed by AP Arjun. Revealing all about his regime, Darshan says that he was on a strict diet for more than six months eating mainly chicken and eggs, and staying away from rice and junk food.
A trend emerging currently is of several Sandalwood stars going the extra mile to suit their characters. Inspired by their counterparts in Hollywood and Bollywood, many actors have been working hard — hitting the gym, getting personal trainers and watching their diet in an attempt to show their brawn on screen. Many of them also have nutritionalists on board to keep a check on what is best for them to get the desired body within a short period of time.
Century Star Dr Shivarajkumar stunned everyone with an impressive six pack for Bhajarangi and he is over 50. In his latest avatar in Mr Airavata, Darshan also has been following a strict regime. The actor says, “It is definitely not so easy to maintain a taut body. Though we actors do our best by working out intensely, it is the kind of food we eat, whether it’s eaten at the right time, and if it has the proper proportions, that takes precedence. I would workout for at least two to three hours a day during the shoot but it was my friend Sandesh, son of Sandesh Nagaraj, the producer, who would make sure that I ate well. I ate only chicken and egg for more than six months. Though, it’s very tempting to eat delicious and fattening food, seeing the result after so much of hardwork on the big screen is extremely satisfying.”
Ryan Fernando, a celebrity sports nutritionist was the one who guided Shivanna to his enviable six pack. Fernando writes on his blog, “At 51 years of age, getting a six pack requires commitment, effort and bucket loads of sweat. Shivaraj Kumarji walked into my clinic after hearing about our success with Olympian Sushil Kumar. His words were, ‘I need to be fit and I need to have a stellar body.’ A trainer is one’s guide to pushing the body to the limit. From a sports nutrition perspective, we requested that we do the best tests in the world on Shivarajkumar and then set about changing his diet.’”
After assessing Shivanna’s height, weight, fat levels and schedules on shoot, offshoot, in the country, out of country, during holiday, etc, Ryan planned his meals according to his calorie requirement.
Ryan further reveals that it is important that the public understand that such a “diet” is very scientific by nature, and everything is done to minimise any harm to the human body. Budding actor Chetan Chandra is bring trained by Panipuri Ravi, who incidentally owns a gym. Golden Star Ganesh had hired a personal trainer during the shooting of Dil Rangeela. Duniya Vijay, Yash, Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar — they all have their fitness trackers on alert. Most newcomers are also making sure that they work towards a great body, though concentrating on their acting would be an added bonus too!
