I love street food, says Lara Dutta

Who would have thought a tall, lissome actress and a former miss universe to be a foodie, but Lara Dutta is just that.

"You know something, I am a big foodie. Being a Punjabi, I love street food, especially chats, pani-puri, dahi-papdi, you name it and I love it", chuckles the beautiful Dutta, who did her schooling in Bangalore and whose family lives here.

Elegantly dressed in sunshine-yellow crinkled chiffon tunic with no accessories and minimal make-up, Lara, whose face had the radiance of a woman in love who had just tied the knot with her loved one, said, "being a Bangalorean, I also love South Indian food. I am glad I married a South Indian".

The actress recently entered into wedlock with tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi, who also hails from Bangalore.

Speaking to Press Trust of India on the sidelines of the launch of a fitness DVD "Heal with Lara, Powerplay - Making Exercise Fun", Lara said, "Exercise has always been an important element of my life and I think it is necessary to incorporate it into every single day of our lives".

Usually workouts and gruelling training sessions tend to become boring after a point of time, she said. "My aim was to make it a little bit uptempo and fun. A uniquely evolved  blendof strength and cardio intervals makes this a fun yet powerful workout for the entire body", Lara said.

The actress attributed the secret of her 'size zero figure', to Zareen, a fitness professional who Lara said has been in the fitness industry for the past 30 years.

Dutta said that hough she learnt different forms of Yoga including the BKS Iyengar Yoga and the Ashtanga Yoga, she became serious about it only around 2004-2005 after her entry into Bollywood.

"The constant pressure of work and the pressure of keeping the body in perfect shape made me realise that I needed something more than burning out calories. I needed something to restore fitness, rejuvenation of body and mind, which I found in yoga", she said.

Subsequently, Dutta brought out a DVD on yoga which received an "overhwhelming response, egging me on to work out an exercise which would be effective and sustainable, at the same time great fun and that's how this DVD came into being".

A much sought after former print and ramp model, Dutta feels Bangalore has come a long way since she left the city after her schooling. "It has evolved so much as a fashion hub. One can see a treasure trove of talent here. The boys and girls here not only carry themselves with elan but can also speak very well. It is a combination of both beauty and the brains, you know", she said, signing off with her winsome smile.