Ten years ago when Aamir Khan was on the lookout for a muscular man for a role in Ghulam, he spotted a youngster, who had come to Film City, with his brother. Aamir learnt that he was new to Mumbai, and was in the city of dreams to pursue a career in acting. The youngster auditioned, and Aamir saw that he could not act.
"I advised that boy to get into body building, as acting was not meant for him. He was better suited for that job," recalled Aamir.
Four years later, Aamir bumped into the youngster again. This time, he wasn’t a struggling actor. Instead, he was responsible for giving Saif Ali Khan his new and improved fit look.
Today, that same youngster -- who goes by the name Sanjay Chourasia -- is responsible for giving Aamir his fab abs in Ghajini.
Chourasia, to this day, remains grateful to Aamir for guiding him well in life.
"He is like God to me," Chourasia says. "He gave me direction in life when I needed it the most."
"I could not believe that the same boy, whom I had suggested that he drop his acting aspirations, has become a well known trainer," said Aamir.
I call him jallad (devil) because he would torture me to do things that I could not," Aamir said, recalling his training days for Ghajini.
Aamir started training in December 2006, so that he would be in shape when the shooting started with director A Murugadoss.
Surya, who starred in the original Tamil version, also worked out regularly for the role.
But did the role require such rigorous training? "My director wanted me in that particular look so I thought I should give it a shot," Aamir said. "I didn’t want to let him down."
But he admitted that there were times when he felt like giving up.
"There were days when I felt like quitting because some exercises were very painful," Aamir said. "But if you have determination, you can do it. I had a lot of fat content in my body. The end result could have been better but I was satisfied with what I achieved."
"I have worked with many people but I feel Aamir has extraordinary will power," Chourasia said. "He would scream in pain but would never give up."
Did he lose sleep in his quest to get into shape?
"In fact, I slept well," Aamir said. "I slept eight hours everyday. You need to sleep well when you want to get in this kind of shape."
Did he take advice from the other muscle men in the industry? "Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan gave me advice," he added. "Salman was one of the first actors of the industry to get into body building. His tips were helpful."
Did he take the help of steroids? "I don’t believe in them," AAmir replied. "There are no short cuts for body building. Moreover, these steroids have side affects. Body building takes five years on an average but I gave my best shot, and got it in one year. I hope my fans like this new look in Ghajini."
"Aamir and I have worked four hours a day on an average, for 13 months. Even if he was busy with his films or other assignments, he would never miss his workout regime," Chourasia said.
Unfortunately, Aamir cannot keep his fab abs for long. He will have to lose weight for his new film, Rajkumar Hirani’s Three Idiots.
"I have to lose weight all over again for Raju’s film. I have to look like a college boy. I hope to get my Ghajini shape back after that film," Aamir said.
"It’s like building a Taj Mahal and then destroying it," Chourasia concluded.
