Rukmini Vijayakumar: Nimble feat
She is equally at home in the traditional world of Bharatanatyam as in the glitz of films – without losing focus of fitness
This 5’6” dancer is excited about her cameo role, alongside Dhanush, in the Bollywood flick Shamitabh. “It was really nice shooting for the film,” she says. “Balki had told me to have fun and I did although I froze in Finland. We even got stuck on a mountain there for a day because it had snowed. Finally, we had to walk down 10 kms trudging through more than 2 feet of snow because bad weather prevented the helicopter to come and pick us up.”Rukmini Vijayakumar is a familiar face in the ad and film world (She is well-known as the screen ‘sister’ of Rajanikanth in the Tamil film Kochadaiyaan).
A trained Bharatanatyam dancer, she is equally at ease with ballet and contemporary dance, having studied at the Boston Conservatory in Ballet and Modern Dance. Twenty-something Rukmini says dance is her first love. That’s evident, given that practically three-fourths of the day is spent on it. Here she shares her fitness and beauty regimen, but not her age...“Bharatanatyam wishes that I am older and the ad/film world likes me to be younger!” says the twenty-something dancer.
Fitness Fix
Two hours of Bharatanatyam adavus that are basically strength and technique exercises done with the feet turned out. This is a skill-based regime. I do this about three-four times a week and the remaining days, I concentrate on the karanas. I take Pilate and yoga classes for an hour thrice a week. I usually have performances lined up so I do my dance rehearsals from 10 am to 5 pm. On days when there are no rehearsals, I usually do an hour and a half of ballet bar in the afternoons and an hour or so of Pilates. I make it a point to do this at least twice a week. I devote evenings to running. I prefer running outdoors and can run about 10 km on no-rehearsals days. Otherwise I run at least twice a week, about 7 km. This is followed by cross fit training.
Mantra
I firmly believe in the simple formula of ‘calories in, calories out’ and the adage ‘everything in moderation’. I don’t believe in any of those diet plans like the high protein diet and so on – all that is rubbish!
Hair Fix
I have curly hair so I can’t wash it every day because it will become very dry. So, I wash my hair once in two days. Before a wash, I oil my hair with coconut oil and then use an ordinary shampoo and conditioner.
Skin Secret
I swear by the homemade scrub that my mother makes using about 20 ingredients. This just has to be mixed with water and used for the body and the face. Sometimes, I make a salt scrub that has oil and rock salt. I shower thrice a day so the scrubs keep the skin moisturised.
Pantry Picks
A trip to the refrigerator makes me reach out to a slice of cheese or pomegranate. I have it peeled and kept in a box for snacking whenever I want to.
Spiritual Connect
I find dance intensely spiritual. When I am dancing it is being closest to myself.
Meal Plan
6 am: A cup of tea.
8 am: First, I have juice. I have trained my cook on the various juice combinations and so I have beetroot, carrot, and orange, tomato or lemon juice. This is followed by a small light breakfast of cereal with milk and a banana.
10 am – 5 pm: I drink a lot of fluids, usually juices or water, when I am doing my dance rehearsals. I have at least 3 litres of liquids and some light snacks in between like, cut fruits or oatmeal biscuits.
5 pm: This is when I am famished. I make a hearty meal of brown rice or millet or broken wheat along with sambar and vegetables. But after rehearsals, if I have a class then I make it a small meal.
8 pm: In case my 5 pm meal is big then dinner will be soup, salad or noodles.
All my meals have to include at least three varieties of vegetables and lentils in some form as I am a vegetarian.
Stress Buster (Apart from dance…) Yoga acts as my stress buster any time.
Guilty Pleasure I love chocolates and have one every day. I prefer dark chocolate.
This 5’6” dancer is excited about her cameo role, alongside Dhanush, in the Bollywood flick Shamitabh. “It was really nice shooting for the film,” she says. “Balki had told me to have fun and I did although I froze in Finland. We even got stuck on a mountain there for a day because it had snowed. Finally, we had to walk down 10 kms trudging through more than 2 feet of snow because bad weather prevented the helicopter to come and pick us up.”
A trained Bharatanatyam dancer, she is equally at ease with ballet and contemporary dance, having studied at the Boston Conservatory in Ballet and Modern Dance. Twenty-something Rukmini says dance is her first love. That’s evident, given that practically three-fourths of the day is spent on it. Here she shares her fitness and beauty regimen, but not her age...“Bharatanatyam wishes that I am older and the ad/film world likes me to be younger!” says the twenty-something dancer.
Fitness Fix
Two hours of Bharatanatyam adavus that are basically strength and technique exercises done with the feet turned out. This is a skill-based regime. I do this about three-four times a week and the remaining days, I concentrate on the karanas. I take Pilate and yoga classes for an hour thrice a week. I usually have performances lined up so I do my dance rehearsals from 10 am to 5 pm. On days when there are no rehearsals, I usually do an hour and a half of ballet bar in the afternoons and an hour or so of Pilates. I make it a point to do this at least twice a week. I devote evenings to running. I prefer running outdoors and can run about 10 km on no-rehearsals days. Otherwise I run at least twice a week, about 7 km. This is followed by cross fit training.
Mantra
I firmly believe in the simple formula of ‘calories in, calories out’ and the adage ‘everything in moderation’. I don’t believe in any of those diet plans like the high protein diet and so on – all that is rubbish!
Hair Fix
I have curly hair so I can’t wash it every day because it will become very dry. So, I wash my hair once in two days. Before a wash, I oil my hair with coconut oil and then use an ordinary shampoo and conditioner.
Skin Secret
I swear by the homemade scrub that my mother makes using about 20 ingredients. This just has to be mixed with water and used for the body and the face. Sometimes, I make a salt scrub that has oil and rock salt. I shower thrice a day so the scrubs keep the skin moisturised.
Pantry Picks
A trip to the refrigerator makes me reach out to a slice of cheese or pomegranate. I have it peeled and kept in a box for snacking whenever I want to.
Spiritual Connect
I find dance intensely spiritual. When I am dancing it is being closest to myself.
Meal Plan
6 am: A cup of tea.
8 am: First, I have juice. I have trained my cook on the various juice combinations and so I have beetroot, carrot, and orange, tomato or lemon juice. This is followed by a small light breakfast of cereal with milk and a banana.
10 am – 5 pm: I drink a lot of fluids, usually juices or water, when I am doing my dance rehearsals. I have at least 3 litres of liquids and some light snacks in between like, cut fruits or oatmeal biscuits.
5 pm: This is when I am famished. I make a hearty meal of brown rice or millet or broken wheat along with sambar and vegetables. But after rehearsals, if I have a class then I make it a small meal.
8 pm: In case my 5 pm meal is big then dinner will be soup, salad or noodles.
All my meals have to include at least three varieties of vegetables and lentils in some form as I am a vegetarian.
Stress Buster (Apart from dance…) Yoga acts as my stress buster any time.
Guilty Pleasure I love chocolates and have one every day. I prefer dark chocolate.
