If you were in your awkward teens during the late 90s, you might have witnessed India's aerobics revolution.
The then-exciting TV shopping phenomenon inspired a lot of middle class homes to invest in DIY (do it yourself) exercise kits bundled with grainy VHS tapes of Jane Fonda and her several copycats to give a liberalized India new fitness goals.
Gyms (or health clubs as they were more popularly known at the time) back then were still an elitist luxury, but slowly stars like Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan inspired a body-building revolution across the nation. Over the years, there has also been a surge in the popularity of international fitness trends such as spinning, Pilates and the current favourite Zumba. What sets Zumba apart from most other fitness routines is its emphasis on music and dance.
I stepped into a Zumba session hosted by Sucheta Pal and Pallavi Sharda and was pleasantly surprised to see how well desi numbers blended into their energetic moves.
A licensed workout that originated in Miami, Zumba is essentially based on Latin and international music that is specially created by ace artists like Pitbull. The aim is to use dance and music to work out the entire body.
Sucheta Pal (who is the master trainer for India) has managed to integrate Bollywood music into Zumba steps, without losing out on the authenticity of the fitness regime and its format. Pal's experiment is part of a TV show that is being hosted by actress (and now IPL anchor) Pallavi Sharda, Pal feels Bollywood works as a pull to draw people's attention and that's why she has added some 'tadka' to the moves.
Pallavi, who is a trained classical dancer herself, feels the earthy nature of Latin American beats is quite compatible with Indian dancing, and it comes quite naturally to her.
So if you are a Bollywood fan and want to add some filmi zing to you workouts, what's the kind of music to go with?
Both Pallavi and Pal agree that most of the latest Bollywood tracks can make it to your Zumba playlist.
Among the ones that are right up there, would be recent chart-busters like 'Kar Gayi Chull' and 'Chittiyan Kalaiyan' as well as the ever-foot-tapping 'Baby Doll' and London Thumakda.
Burning calories with thumka? Now that's a tempting fusion.
The then-exciting TV shopping phenomenon inspired a lot of middle class homes to invest in DIY (do it yourself) exercise kits bundled with grainy VHS tapes of Jane Fonda and her several copycats to give a liberalized India new fitness goals.
Gyms (or health clubs as they were more popularly known at the time) back then were still an elitist luxury, but slowly stars like Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan inspired a body-building revolution across the nation. Over the years, there has also been a surge in the popularity of international fitness trends such as spinning, Pilates and the current favourite Zumba. What sets Zumba apart from most other fitness routines is its emphasis on music and dance.
I stepped into a Zumba session hosted by Sucheta Pal and Pallavi Sharda and was pleasantly surprised to see how well desi numbers blended into their energetic moves.
A licensed workout that originated in Miami, Zumba is essentially based on Latin and international music that is specially created by ace artists like Pitbull. The aim is to use dance and music to work out the entire body.
Sucheta Pal (who is the master trainer for India) has managed to integrate Bollywood music into Zumba steps, without losing out on the authenticity of the fitness regime and its format. Pal's experiment is part of a TV show that is being hosted by actress (and now IPL anchor) Pallavi Sharda, Pal feels Bollywood works as a pull to draw people's attention and that's why she has added some 'tadka' to the moves.
Pallavi, who is a trained classical dancer herself, feels the earthy nature of Latin American beats is quite compatible with Indian dancing, and it comes quite naturally to her.
So if you are a Bollywood fan and want to add some filmi zing to you workouts, what's the kind of music to go with?
Both Pallavi and Pal agree that most of the latest Bollywood tracks can make it to your Zumba playlist.
Among the ones that are right up there, would be recent chart-busters like 'Kar Gayi Chull' and 'Chittiyan Kalaiyan' as well as the ever-foot-tapping 'Baby Doll' and London Thumakda.
Burning calories with thumka? Now that's a tempting fusion.