Agility, endurance matter but not size

From making her debut in Bollywood with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Baazigar’ to winning the international reality show "Celebrity Big Brother 5," and delivering commercially successful Hindi films and establishing herself as a fitness enthusiast, Shilpa Shetty Kundra has done it all. The actress says people tend to focus more on superficial elements rather than real body strengthening when it comes to fitness.

Shilpa had led a group of 2,353 people to create the Guinness World Records of holding the abdominal plank for 60 seconds. The event that happened on Sunday was organised by Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company. Talking about her transformation from an actress to a fitness enthusiast, Shilpa told IANS here: "I think we tend to focus more on size, shapes, how well we fit into designer clothes rather than on core strengthening, agility, endurance etc. "I understood the value of fitness when I had my baby because I realised that I am responsible for another life and to take care of him, I have to be physically and emotionally strong and healthy. So that becomes my constant motivation," added the mother of a seven-year-old boy. Shilpa is also known for acting in commercial potboilers like ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari’, ‘Pardesi Babu’, ‘Dhadkan’ and ‘Life in a... Metro’. She was also praised for her role in the film ‘PhirMilenge’ that dealt with AIDS.

Now as a YouTuber, she is enjoying the fruits of success. Many people are subscribers of her YouTube channel where she shares healthy recipes and fitness tips. "At times, shooting a video for YouTube costs me more than anything else," she said with a laugh. "But my idea of starting the channel and sharing easy recipes was to encourage youngsters to take a step towards healthy eating. I know this for a fact that the number of youngsters staying independently... away from family is increasing every year.

"They mostly don't know how to cook healthy yet tasty food at home and end up eating processed food that damages their health. So, as a fitness enthusiast I had to find a solution to that," added the actress. Shilpa did not appear in films for quite sometime. Still, she managed to stay in the public eye by encouraging people to practise Yoga and judging dance shows like "Nach Baliye" and "Super Dancer". Sharing her love for yoga, she said: "Yoga offered me a healthy mind and simple lifestyle. Of course, I cannot live like a yogi because then I have to give up a lot of materialistic things which I also love, but my life is very simple, healthy and I eat to live. I do not live to eat."

"One of the very important things that yoga has taught me is to be emotionally secure and stay centred and connected to myself. Yes, in the entertainment business, we are quick to judge on the basis of appearance and at times, others' comments might affect one's confidence level. But always remember, others' judgment, which is shallow, does not define who you are."

BY Arundhuti Banerjee