The man behind SRK’s physique
Body sculptor Prashant Sawant, who has been in the entertainment industry for over two decades, has an illustrious clientele of Bollywood stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, Varun Dhawan, Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor. The owner of the luxe personal training studios gets candid on his first celebrity client Shah Rukh Khan whom he took on twenty years ago and still trains. Prashant tells us that he keeps the actor’s knee injuries and subsequent surgeries in mind while training him. “We basically do several physio exercises with emphasis on straightening, conditioning his knees and shoulders while maintaining safety especially in the areas that hurt him. We avoid certain rigorous exercises and do light- weight exercises and do a lot of ab workouts too,” says Prashant, adding that no fast workouts are included.
The changes in Shah Rukh’s physique have been long visible to the world and his fans, especially since his ‘ big reveal’ in the 2007- film Om Shanti Om. Talking about how Shah Rukh has always been a sports person, Prashant adds that performing athletic workouts brings a feel good factor in him.
“He enjoys exercising and it makes him feel good about himself and his body.”
While before the lockdown, Prashant made house calls to train the star or had him visiting the gym as per his preferences, since the lockdown the sessions are more online and conversation- based. “I send him text messages, do video calls and if he needs any help or gets stuck sometimes, give him the workout he needs to follow regularly.”
Prashant says Shah Rukh’s son Aryan and daughter Suhana also workout with Shah Rukh and the actor helps them in their training.