Suniel Shetty’s banking on fitness for new TV show

After a self-imposed three-year sabbatical, Suniel Shetty, known for his Bollywood action films in the ’90s, is making a comeback... on the small screen. Now 55 and fitter than he has ever been, the actor says he’d been offered a lot of television projects, but India’s Asli Champion (India’s Real Champion) came closest to his passion.

“I think it worked for me because I’m an obsessive fitness person,” he told Gulf News tabloid! on a recent trip to Dubai to promote the show.

Dressed in a simple grey T-shirt and jeans, Shetty’s laid-back attitude and casual demeanour belies his status as one of the biggest Bollywood action heros in the ’90s, known for his roles in films such as Dilwale, Krishna, Border, Hera Pheri and Main Hoon Na.

The new fitness-based reality show will feature six women and six men, all fitness enthusiasts who will undergo different tests that will assess their mental and physical endurance levels. The contestants, belonging to different fields of work, will battle it out at various levels to achieve the title of India’s Asli Champion.

Doing the show was a natural fit, says Shetty.

Here are excerpts from the interview.

What is the concept behind India’s Asli Champion?

It looks into the absolute inner core of an individual, where we all believe that we have the strength but somehow don’t reach out or reach in, rather, to pull it out. So this is testing of one’s strength, endurance, stamina, self-belief, confidence, and flexibility- everything, to bring out the asli champion in you. You could be anybody- a sportsman, a badminton player, we’ve got software engineers who are not necessarily gym going people but are functional training guys, who are in [the show]. It’s about bringing out the real you.

What motivated you to choose this project?

I’ve been getting a lot of offers from television but I’ve always believed that I couldn’t judge someone as a judge. You know, you sit there on a chair and pass a comment. I don’t know how good I am at that or whether I’m as good as the people who are participating so I was never comfortable there. When it came to India’s Asli Champion, here I play big brother, I play mentor, I play a friend to the participants. It worked brilliantly for me because I was passionate.

Were you involved in selecting the participants?

Yes, very much. Unfortunately, this time, probably because of the lack of time we couldn’t go from city to city to pick up the participants but that’s the whole idea in season 2- that we’re going to travel the length and breadth of the country and pick up people from various walks of life and various states. This time, we chose from whoever applied and came to us. There were hundreds of applicants but we’d like it to be in millions before we make that decision.

You’ve always been fitness conscious. How has your commitment to it changed over the years?

As I’m ageing, I’m trying to get leaner and fitter. I cannot defy age, I cannot challenge it but I can delay it as much as possible and that’s something I’m trying to do. I’ve included yoga in my lifestyle probably because I’ve calmed down a lot more. When the adrenalin rush was there, I thought yoga made no sense. But now I can sit for an hour or two without anybody coming in the way. I train maximum for 45 minutes in a day and three to four days a week when it comes to weight training. So over the years it’s evolved, I’m more conscious about my diet. ‘Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’ is not just a saying, it’s something that works big time. I’ve cut out carbs from my life completely after 5 in the evening. It’s very simple, it’s not rocket science but I follow it to the T.

Out of your fitness regime, what are some tips you would suggest to people?

Yoga and right food habits. If you don’t want to do massive stretches or you’re scared of asanas, get into your pranayamas and do simple breathing. Keep your food habits right. If you want to lose weight, eat six meals a day. If you want to gain weight eat three solid meals a day. Use all the carbs that you want to earlier in the day so that you get the energy to go through your day. These aren’t tips, they’re simple things that I have experienced and followed and today, at 55, I feel like I’m fit enough to take on a 21-year-old — be it in the gym, endurance, strength or stamina. That’s purely because I’ve been following rules.

Are bodies made in the kitchen or the gym? What is your diet plan like?

The kitchen. [I have a] big breakfast. My breakfast starts with a lot more protein and a little carb. Carbs would be in the form of quinoa, roti with my eggs and a little bit of porridge. Then fruit around 11 or 11:30. Just enough to serve as a midday snack. My lunch is one fistful of brown rice, a single meat and two or three pulses or vegetables. 4pm is another snack time. It could be a turkey sandwich or anything. At 8, [I have] dinner which is salad and any protein — fish or chicken — and 10 or 10:30 is bed time.

What are some misconceptions regarding fitness?

That you have to go to the gym and train really hard and heavy to build a body. Or that you need to take supplements or you need to take steroids. That’s not true and it’s 30 per cent of sales going to the trainer and nothing else. Do what you enjoy first. Once you enjoy what you’re doing, you see that weight loss and transformation in your body and you’ll start training.

Can you tell our readers why they should watch the show?

You should watch the show because it’s about you. It tells you that you have that champion in you and it’s just about working on it. It tells you how big of a difference a good lifestyle can make to your life. It’s extremely motivating. You’ve seen dance and music shows and that’s a lot of fun. But this is reality. I’d say, someone who comes in with a simple signature can end up giving an autograph after this show. So you’re creating a star out of just about anybody which I think is beautiful.

How close were you to acting icon Vinod Khanna who died on Thursday?

I got the news when I was on my flight [to Dubai]. I’m very close to Akshaye [Khanna] and Vinod JI himself. We shared some phenomenal moments together and he was my hero. I grew up in the same area and I used to wait, come back from school and run to this friends’ store at the junction because Vinod JI used to pass by at 6:30 or 7 when he used to shoot and there was this perpetual wave he used to do every time he saw me so we connected since then. It’s a big loss to the industry because he wasn’t just a star, he was a star who gave away stardom at his peak, came back and then got that stardom back. If you say style, good looks, performance or voice — there’s one name that comes to mind and that’s Vinod Khanna.

Don’t miss it

India’s Asli Chamption... Hai Dum! airs in the UAE every Saturday and Sunday at 9pm on &TV.

— Anieka Sequeira is an intern at Gulf News