Dancing like the stars( Preity Article)

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Nadia

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Posted: 18 years ago

Now that they've finished milking the yoga cash cow in all its form and glory (well, almost!), the self-proclaimed international fitness gurus have turned their attention towards Bollywood.

The exercise trend causing a rage in the US and UK is the Bollywood fitness DVD. What's that, you ask? It's all the jhakas matkas of popular Bollywood hits or bhangra choreographed into a workout DVD which promises to shape you up.

'Bollyrobics — Dance Workout' proclaims one with the tagline: 'dance like Bollywood stars'. 'Honey Kalaria's Bollywood Workout — Bhangracise your way to a better body' states another, while Kalaria herself alleges to have worked in loads of Bollywood movies. Yeah right! And if the hobnobbing-with-Bollywood-actors claim-to-fame doesn't work on starry-eyed fitness enthusiasts, there's always the promise of losing 500 calories an hour.

So does the workout DVD really work? "Bollywood dancing does make you lose weight if choreographed well," says fitness instructor Leena Mogre. "It's basically aerobics done to the tunes of Bollywood songs with a few dance steps thrown in for good measure. It can make you lose up to 300 calories an hour." Though, note that Bollywood dancing by itself is not going to make you shed those kilos. "You also have to do weight training alongside," she stresses. "This is just a fun way to get people to workout, to shed those inhibitions." Agrees actress Minissha Lamba who thinks dancing is a great form of exercise. "You need a lot of energy, stamina and flexibility to do Bollywood numbers," she laughs. "I think it is just a way of staying fit and enjoying the process of doing it."

Well, if that be the case then how come most of our Bollywood choreographers don't show any sign of losing those pounds? "That's because besides dancing, which is a good form of cardio, you also need to watch what you eat," explains choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant. "Also, most of the time the choreographer's assistant ends up doing most of the work because the choreographer needs to look at the direction aspect of the song, so they end up fitter than the choreographer!"