Being a celeb trainer

Sahil Rasheed has trained Kapoor and Dhairya Karwa, Robin Behl has trained Kriti Sanon, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kiara Advani, Ibrahim Ali Khan, and Adarsh Gourav. Pics/Instagram

How did you bag your first celebrity client?
Robin: I interacted with Kriti Sanon in the lockdown when she had to lose weight post Mimi. Her management team had been training with me, and they introduced us. We started connecting virtually, and today she's a partner in our company.

Deanne: Preity Zinta was a very close friend, and she was working on Salaam Namaste. She had to wear tiny skirts, and flaunt a flat midriff, so she began to train with me. Even today, she tells me that that was the fittest she has ever been. She was the first Bollywood actor I trained.

Sahil: My first client was Patralekhaa, who came to check out the gym I was working at. I was [asked] to show her around, and she subsequently began to train with me. Thereafter, she introduced me to Rajkummar [Rao], and that's how my clientele built up.

Deanne Pandey has trained Zinta and Bipasha Basu, among other celebrities

How is training a celebrity different from training a layman?
Robin: They have no time, because they're filming for 12 hours a day. They've got 100 things to do, and they need to train and maintain. So, one needs to build a relationship with them. If they don't trust you, it's not going to work out at all, especially due to the erratic schedule. I try to understand their physical, emotional, and mental needs. They keep doing so much to their bodies, that it can be tough to cope - one look for one film, and then another for the next. So, it's not like they're constantly in a particular shape. You need to manipulate the sessions to keep them interested.

Deanne: Many years ago, people didn't exercise regularly. It wasn't part of their lifestyle, like it is today. Back then, they'd just train for two months before a movie would go on floors. So, we needed to accomplish a lot in limited time - address their nutritional needs, conduct medical tests, and train to achieve desired results. But, they were always disciplined. Bollywood has always been very aesthetic and body-centric. Even 30 years ago, I always practiced in a holistic way. Even if the window was short, I kept a check on their sleeping patterns, and stress levels.

Are celebrities more disciplined than laymen?
Robin: Yes, because it's not only about the training - it's also about the dance, acting, diction and speech. Their attention is divided because there are so many aspects that need to be addressed. So, only when there's mutual respect will things be smooth sailing.

What's the craziest thing you've made a celebrity do to achieve a desired look?
Robin: The sessions we had with Adi [Aditya Roy Kapur] for The Night Manager were different, if not crazy. He was shooting for 14 hours a day, and I'd be in his room at 5 am to wake him up to train, and would be waiting for him right after he wrapped up too. I knew he was so exhausted that if he sat down to rest, he wouldn't get himself to train. So, we'd train before he could [call it a day]. It's not an easy thing to do because acting is physically draining too, and we were in Sri Lanka, where the temperature was not favourable. He'd be pissed off with me, and I had no chill, but we had to get it done.

Three days prior [to the climax scene], we cut out salt from his diet. But, if I felt he needed [a boost], I'd give him a bit of dark chocolate or do something to keep the energy up. Every time we meet, we talk about how we wouldn't want to go down that route again.

A myth about training a celebrity:
Robin: That they are super difficult. They're not. Or that you need to be at their beck and call, which also isn't true. If you have a structured approach and a good understanding, that's enough to train a celebrity. Another one is that you can train only one celebrity at a time. That's also not true. I'm working with Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kiara [Advani], Kriti, Ibrahim [Ali Khan], and Adarsh [Gourav].

Sahil: It's not a level-playing field. Understand that celebrities have access to a lot of specialists, including physiotherapists. So, even if they have a small niggle, we need to get the green signal from the physio before proceeding. So, there's a lot of change in the programme. This is also due to occupational hazards. When I was training Janhvi Kapoor for Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, she had been training with a person from the military, and had developed some back issues. So, we had to address those. Creating a plan that is practical for the actor, regardless of the character she is set to play [is also vital]. Also, often, they have to achieve a lot in a short span of time, and that requires one to understand the emotional toll that the process can take. When I trained Shriyam Bhagnani for Sumo Didi, we had a short window to train an 85- kilo actor to do a split and nab strength training. Often, she'd cry during the process. But, she got better as we went along.

How do you manage your clientele when you travel with celebrities for the duration of their shoot?
Robin: It was important for me to travel with Aditya, because a major part of the shoot involved body-shots. If it's not a body-shot, I don't travel. We also have a team. So, I may send somebody with a brief. I have programmed everything. They just need to execute it. Also, now we can train individuals virtually. Cell phones and gyms are accessible.