The film may be knee-deep in controversy but there’s no denying that Deepika Padukone’s character Rani Padmavati will forever be go down in history books as an icon. The unibrow, the sumptuous jewellery and exquisite costumes have contributed to her overall look. But to really get into the skin of her character, she had to shed the muscular frame she had achieved to shoot for her hotly anticipated Hollywood debut xXx: Return of Xander Cage and adopt a more lean, royal look, according to the brief set by director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Padukone turned to her faithful trainer Yasmin Karachiwala, whom she had worked with since her Cocktail days, training months before the shooting schedule began. Karachiwala is on speed-dial for most of Bollywood’s actresses, including Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif and Kriti Sanon as clients. Disclaimer: following Karachiwala’s insta feed will instantly make you put down that bag of chips and hit the gym.
According to Mumbai Mirror.Karachiwala introduced a pilates workout regime 20-20-20, where Padukone would work out for 20 minutes each on three different sets of machines. It helped target specific areas such as her back, upper body, legs and abs. Padukone would pencil in an hour during her shooting schedule, working out for five to six days a week. They started seeing results within two weeks.
Padukone’s diet was also overhauled, to include more protein. Her breakfast would comprise of two egg whites, or South Indian staples such as idli, dosa or ragi porridge. Lunch would be grilled fish, fresh veggies and chapattis.
Dinner was mostly veggie-based, with fresh salads and chapattis. Deepika snacked on dry fruits, indulged her sweet cravings with dark chocolate and sipped on filter coffee.
Yasmin revealed to Mirror that “Deepika is conscious of what’s good for body and what isn’t and that she doesn’t try to curb her cravings, and knows how to balance things out. If she’s indulgent one day, it’s all about moderation the next day.” Now, that’s something we can all adhere too right?
Karachiwala will soon introduce DP to a new form of pilates called ‘the Fletcher method’ that she learnt in US. Honestly, we’re pretty sold on this banging body of Padukone’s already.
