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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

Posted: 29 Nov 2011 12:02 AM PST

Anything and everything related to fitness spells megabucks.

IN an industry where millions ride on spectacular figures and physiques, it is no surprise that Bollywood actors are endorsing fitness products or launching their own health-related businesses to rake in the megabucks.

From the sultry Shilpa Shetty to the "Bengali bombshell" Bipasha Basu, Mallika Sherawat, Yana Gupta and Kareena Kapoor, a host of Indian actresses have joined the fitness bandwagon to cash in on their alluring screen personae.

Dum Maaro Dum star Bipasha, for instance, is endorsing a range of health products, apart from launching her own fitness products. Bipasha is the brand ambassador of McVities health biscuits (for which she was reportedly paid US$1mil/RM3.2mil), Dabur's Real Activ juice and Sugar Free Gold artificial sweeteners.

"Fitness is about 50% diet and 50% exercise," says the actress who is much envied for her well-toned body. Bipasha has often talked about her own punishing exercise regimen that includes cardiovascular exercises, weight training, treadmill, yoga and cycling.

As a brand extension, she has also launched two workout DVDs – Bipasha Basu - Love Yourself and A Fabulous Workout DVD For A Fit And Fabulous You – which are apparently selling well.

Interestingly, for her fitness video, Bipasha had also multitasked as the concept designer, director and scriptwriter.

"I have seen many fitness videos," she says at the media launch. "But I haven't found one that is truly great. To an amateur, those DVDs and workout regimes are complex. When I started working out, I had no clue on how to go about it. Then I started reading about fitness and watched DVDs and I've been training intensively for six years now."

As a clever marketing strategy, Bipasha had managed to rope in some of Indian cinema's biggest names to endorse her video. Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, cricketer M.S. Dhoni, Priyanka Chopra and John Abraham are featured sharing their fitness tips on Bipasha's DVD.

The actress is also launching a signature fitness clothing line – the eponymous BB Love Yourself – for which she has tied up with Reebok. She has also designed a line of fitness outfits.

Bipasha opines that people ought to look fashionable during workouts as "there are clothes beyond the sports bra and tights" for such occasions. Apparently, the fitness freak is tapping top-of-the-line fashion stores to market her line and might even go international.

Apart from Bipasha, Shilpa Shetty and Lara Dutta – both self-confessed fitness buffs – have also morphed into fitness gurus by launching their own fitness DVDs. Bollywood hottie Mallika also recently announced that she will release her soon-to-be launched fitness DVD in the United States where "many people ask me for my exercise and diet tips".

To be fair, Shilpa was the first to enter the celebrity physical fitness space two years ago by putting together a yoga video which she called a "management system for life". The 34-year-old actress, who also produced and starred in the video, says she made it in response to fans' questions about how she stayed fit.

"A lot of fans have asked about my fitness regime – I think this is the best way to tell them how to stay healthy," says Shilpa at the media launch. Shilpa elaborates that her aim in producing the 72-minute video entitled Shilpa's Yoga – An Introduction To Dynamic Free Flow Yoga Practice – whose cover features the actress sitting cross-legged in a meditative pose, was "to make it simple for people to do yoga".

The DVD elaborates on Shilpa's tips for stress management, increased energy and vitality, weight loss and improved circulation and digestion.

"It can be done by a 10- or 60-year-old," she says. She credits yoga for having a "spectacular impact" on her own life. "It has helped my mind, body and soul," says the new entrepreneur, who has also launched a spa, a perfume (SS) and a nightclub in Mumbai with her London-based tycoon husband Raj Kundra.

However, the most recent celebrity to join the fitness DVD bandwagon is Czech beauty and Bollywood item girl Yana Gupta. Yana is preparing to launch her video on yoga, diet and meditation featuring herself later this year.

When it comes to fit Bollywood artistes, Kareena is amongst its frontrunners. Kareena's yoga practice, weight training and a strict diet regimen have been well-documented by her fitness trainer Rujuta Diwekar in her book Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight.

Rujuta is the fitness guru of the who's who of Bollywood, including Kareena, her sister Karishma and beau Saif Ali Khan, Canada-born actress Lisa Ray and Sonali Bendre.

Interestingly, Rujuta's book has a foreword by Kareena, who feels the trainer has not just changed her body, but also her mind and soul.

"When a celebrity endorses a book on diet and nutrition, it implies he/she supports the views of the author, and that helps to take the message across to his/her fans," says Delhi-based author Geeta Pandya.

Neeta Lal is a New Delhi-based senior journalist.

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Best of the West

Posted: 29 Nov 2011 12:01 AM PST

PERHAPS Indian actors are taking a leaf out of Hollywood's books by cashing in on their fans' fitness craze.

Celebrity fitness videos are essentially a Western trend popularised by Hollywood actress Jane Fonda in the 1980s.

Fonda's aerobics video – Jane Fonda's Workout (1982) – took the world by storm and holds the record for selling 17 million copies worldwide. DVD versions of the legendary actress' video – who is now 74 and still looking fabulous – were re-released from 2005 onwards.

Fonda's first exercise video was inspired by her best-selling book, Jane Fonda's Workout Book. The video's release led many people to buy the then-new VCR in order to perform the workout in the privacy and convenience of their homes.

Fonda subsequently released 23 workout videos, five workout books and 13 audio programmes, through 1995. After a 15-year hiatus, she released two new fitness videos on DVD last year, aiming at an older audience.

"Fitness videos help to further the potential of this business because of two things: first, the celebrity in question knows what has worked for her body, and she wants to share it with the world. And second, marketing the video is not a challenge with a celeb in the package," says fitness expert Dhiru Adhikari.

However, sceptics of the trend point out that there's a downside to this craze as well – the buyers are so enamoured with the celebrity that they blindly follow the fitness routine without checking whether it suits them or not. People with high blood pressure, heart conditions and renal problems especially need to be careful.

Even so, marketing analysts say the potential of the celeb fitness industry is huge.

"It's a consumer's market as far as fitness goes," opines Dhiru.

Plus, the fitness industry across India is being propelled by a narcissistic urge to follow celebrities.

Nutritionist and fitness consultant Shikha Sharma, an industry veteran for two decades, feels that a desire to have super-slim bodies like that of celebrities is the main driving force behind the fitness industry in India.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 28 November 2011