‘I have lost inches, not kilos’

Sonakshi Sinha talks about her recent weight loss, the 'single' tag she wants to shed, her father’s re-entry into active politics, and pairing up with one of his contemporaries

As an 18-year-old studying fashion designing at SNDT University, Sonakshi Sinha was a regular at the college canteen and not overly concerned about her looks. But when the weighing machine struck 92 kg, health became a worry. “I couldn’t run on the treadmill for more than 10 minutes and would start huffing if I walked up even one flight of stairs,” she recalls.
At this point, Salman Khan stepped in, urging her to lose weight and become an actress. She lost 30 kg in two-and-a-half-years and was signed for Dabbang.
A few years later, Sonakshi, however, let go of her regime. “I reasoned that after working all day I didn’t need to work out,” she admits. The kilos piled up again and her weight became a talking point with the press.
“It wasn’t that I was sitting at home without work or that my fans had moved away. But journalists kept asking questions which I was forced to answer,” she sighs.
Then came a lifestyle change. Her brothers, Luv and Kush, have always been into fitness, and now she too set up a gym on her terrace to work out in the open. She's hired a personal trainer who ensures that she works out for at least 30 minutes no matter how exhausted she is. And the results are stunning.
“I’ve lost inches, not kilos. The dress sizes have dropped just like that,” she says snapping her fingers. “I’m more toned now, have the energy to work long hours and am one-third the person I used to be," she laughs, dressed in a pair of fitted jeans and a matching blue tee.
While shooting for Holiday, Sonakshi who plays a boxer, got a few on-set training sessions from Olympian boxer Vijender Singh. That has inspired her to channel her daily frustations onto the punching bag in her home gym. Is some of the anger focused on the trainer who has put her on a starvation diet for a size-zero figure?
She screams, “Starve and me? I am too much of a foodie and after working so hard why should I abstain from things that make me happy? I eat everything, but in moderation. And if I overeat, I burn out the calories. I can never be a size zero even if I wanted. I’m five feet eight inches and have a very Indian frame and a healthy build.”
Has she managed to get her parents, Poonam and Shatrughan Sinha, to follow her regime? “They don’t even use the treadmill,” she sighs. “Dad says he cycles when in Delhi.”
Given his recent health problems, didn’t the family try to dissuade Shatru from continuing with active politics? “You can’t take a man’s passion away from him. We made sure that he takes things a bit slowly, but he was positive. He not only recovered fast but also won the elections. I can’t wait for them to return from Patna and celebrate his win,” she whoops.
Speaking of her father, how did he react to the idea of his daughter romancing his 60-plus contemporary Rajinikanth in Lingaa? “He was amused but then realised that there couldn’t be a better debut for me in Tamil cinema,” points out Sonakshi, who has gone back to Mumbai from the first schedule in Mysore. “On the first day of the shoot I confessed to Rajini sir that I was nervous. He retorted that he was the one who was nervous. That broke the ice!”
Meanwhile, Sonakshi’s real- life romances have provided plenty of fodder for gossip, the latest being her link-up with Shahid Kapoor. The sunny smile disappears, “I guess it’s because our jodi was appreciated in R… Rajkumar. But the fact is that we are not even in touch with each other now. I’ve completed 12 films in four years and for the last three years I’ve been working round-the-clock. I need some time to myself. I’ve been single too long, I would love to change that relationship status but I’ve just been too busy to find the right match.”