Meet the woman who makes Bollywood stretch

Yoga teacher Payal Gidwani gives us the buzz behind the fitness levels of Bollywood’s hottest stars

“Kareena couldn’t lift her legs to 90 degrees four years ago, until yoga gave her the flexibility to do so,” says yoga teacher Payal Gidwani.

“Kareena’s disciplined and hasn’t missed a single session in the last four years that she’s been doing yoga with me. She generally works out for an hour a day and concentrates on the leg asanas. Today she can hold yoga postures for an amazing length of time.”

Payal has been putting stars like Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan, film-maker Farah Khan and choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant through their yoga paces for some time now.

“While Saif initially took up yoga because Kareena persuaded him to do so, he’s taken a definite liking to it now, especially the suryanamaskar and the stretches. He had a body that was muscular and built from extensive gymming but he’s become really lean and flexible thanks to his yoga workout.”

Rani Mukherjee appeared in her recent slim avatar a couple of weeks ago. “I’ve been training Rani for two years and her dramatic weight loss is due to her two-hour workout. With Rani I focused on suryanamaskar and also inserted cardio exercises. That included walking the stairs up and down her house repeatedly as against using a stepper,” says Gidwani.

Farah Khan has been training with Payal for a month now. “Farah’s very dedicated and she’s taken a liking to yoga. She never misses a workout. I am sure she’s going to knock off her weight soon.”

Payal feels yoga is not about miracles. “I don’t have  a magic wand and when people come to me wanting to lose 10 kg in a month, I say it can’t be done. One can lose 10 kg in 10 months and that too only by undertaking proper structural changes – which includes asanas, kriyas and pranayama.”

More about Payal Gidwani
Payal Gidwani has trained under yoga teacher Bharat Thakur for several years and now conducts yoga classes all over Mumbai. She specialises in artistic yoga and was the one of the primary causes for Kareena Kapoor obtaining her ‘Size 0’ look in Tashan.