Night out with Deepika Mehta

Night out with Deepika Mehta
by: Parizaad Khan
- expressindia.com

She makes Ash and Bips sweat and considers Yana her soul sister. But there’s more to Deepika Mehta than some of Bollywood’s hottest bodies.

If you lived in south Mumbai two years ago and were shopping for an exercise regime that would sculpt your body and feed your soul, chances are you’d have discovered Deepika Mehta’s power yoga class at Gold’s Gym. She’d light the incense, put on soothing chants and then jump-start your day with a thumping, hard core workout that’d leave you praying to the yoga gods for mercy—and more. But to the dismay of all of Napean Sea Road, Mehta’s left us common folk to make national treasures like Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu sweat.

These days, the 28-year-old trains clients at the gym at Bandra’s Taj Land’s End, so we meet for lunch at Vista, the hotel’s coffee shop.

She walks in sporting exercise gear—a racerback tee and tracks, with her waist-long hair loose. ‘‘For a few months, I spent most of my salary eating four meals a day here,’’ she laughs. This is also where she and ‘‘soul sister’’ Yana Gupta spent hours chatting after workouts.

Mehta takes on only two to three clients at a time (no, there’s no vacancy, Ash and Bips are hogging her time). ‘‘Every time I exercise with someone, I feel like I’ve given my energy, a part of myself to them. When I was training too many people, I was drained at the end of the day,’’ she says.

Mehta spent a couple of days at the end of last year hosting yoga workshops in Bhutan for members of the elite Young Presidents Organisation; members include heads of exclusive international fashion labels and CEOs of record companies. ‘‘They fell in love with me, and so I loved it. I know I’m being bratty, but it was great for my ego,’’ she says. ‘‘They wanted to take me back to New York and make me a brand.’’

Training the models for the Kingfisher calendar was another project she couldn’t say no to. Looking over a plate piled high with salad greens and smoked salmon, she says, ‘‘I bullied them; they hated me at the start. I heard that the day the shooting wrapped up, they pigged out saying, ‘Yay, Deepika’s not here’,” she laughs. She exerts even more dietary control over her regular clients. ‘‘The first thing I do is have a chat with their cooks; I tell them they can eat this and nothing else,’’ she says.

Mehta was asked in June last year to train Aishwarya for her role in Dhoom 2 by the makers of the film. Since then she’s accompanied the actor to London and Jaipur for shoots as well. ‘‘Ash has a dancer’s body and lots of flexibility and grace. She’s spiritual and enjoys meditation,’’ Mehta says.

If you’ve got your muscles in a twitch wondering what a trademark Deepika Mehta workout is like, here’s a sample: Start with some yoga, move on to weights-cardio-resistance training, then relax with some meditation. And there’s some dance thrown in as well. ‘‘But there’s never a standard formula, I go with my gut,’’ she says.

When she’s not training, Mehta spends her time researching—her current topic is how excess exercise leads to premature ageing. She’s also doing a correspondence course in naturopathy from an Australian university. ‘‘I also want to set up a retreat in Mumbai. A small and exclusive Goa-esque place where people can do yoga,’’ she says.

Anushka Sharma

Beauty tips from Anushka Sharma
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera caught up with model Anushka Sharma on the sidelines of LFW. Here she shares some beauty tips and her views about applying make up and the media:

Beauty secret for great skin:
AS: I am blessed with very good skin. But because of the damage from all the make up we apply and pollution I wash my face regularly. I drink lots of water and try to be happy.

How does she take care of her skin:
AS: Once in a while I apply some refreshing Neem packs which detoixifies the skin.

Hair tips:
AS: My hair is quite healthy. Since I have a contract with Sunsilk they do all the protein treatments for me. The hair pack that they apply makes my hair healthy.

What do you do when you are not modelling?:
AS: I meet up with my friends; catch up on sleep. I love reading. I'm doing my majors in economics through correspondence because of the lack of time.

Memories of her first walk on the ramp:
AS: That was long time back when I was only 15. I was told that I should walk just like I walk on the streets and that's exactly what I did. Trust me it was really bad.

But it was a great learning experience for me. I was very very very nervous; I started watching fashion shows and reading on fashion. Then I got really involved in it. And with the help of the models who taught me here I am. Now I think I can walk well on the ramp.

The not-so-good things about being a model:
AS: The hours. You have to wake up early and go to sleep at an unearthly hour. And the make up that they splash on us really makes us feel not normal. Then again there's no specific time for meals and it doesn't matter if we have a bad back or a stomach pain. If we're here, we have to walk.

What I think of the media?:
AS: The media can make or break a person. At times they go a bit further then they should. Just in the name of TRP's and sensational news. So I think that's wrong. But at the same time they are quite responsible also and because of them people come forward and voice their opinions.