This comes right up to the line of acceptable objectification. But I think we are still okay, because it’s not like we are saying anything about their basic bodies, or comparing them with non-muscley guys (Abhishek, you are the best), or even muscle to muscle. Merely in terms of the clothes they have chosen to wear, and the moments they have allowed to be photographed, who is the best?
Picture yourself in a gym. You walk in and look around you, and everywhere you look there are attractive muscle-y guys giving you the eye. These guys, in fact, the ones whose pictures I am about to show you right now.
Sanjay, possibly best body but also possibly worst hair.
Sunil, always good. I could wish his shirt made a little more sense (why so baggy?), but the look as a whole is nice.
Speaking of baggy, what is up with Sunny‘s shorts????
Salman, excellent look all around, love the hair and all that. But maybe just a few too many muscles for a man in his 50s?
Siddharth, I am with you most of the way down, but you seem to have forgotten your pants.
Akshay, I freaking love you. Inaugurating a friend’s gym, you didn’t even bother putting on a special outfit, just leaped onto the monkey bars and had fun.
Varun, pink? Really?
Tovino Thomas, one of our few Malayalis to actually take the gym body concept seriously. Look at all his little exercises!
Prabhas, of course, he is either strangely shy in the gym, or just strangely shy everywhere. Anyway, he never really faces the camera.
Unlike Rana!
Oh Maddy!!!! Somehow working out makes your jawline stand out as though it could cut glass. I like it!
Hrithik, always posing, always.
Infinite Arjun‘s!!!!
John, very intense, very focused. Working out is a serious business.
Prithviraj is definitely…..straining.
Shahid and his little hipster hat, why???? Aren’t you hot?
Ah Aamir! Back in Ghajini days.
Ooo Arjun! Back in Gunday days for sure. Will we ever see this Arjun again?
Ajay, very nice, exact same body (more or less) that he has had for 20 years. It’s oddly reassuring.
Ranveer, being very precise and modern, no old-fashioned weightlifting for him, he’s got wires and things!
Ranbir, looking kind of like that cute guy at the college gym that you saw at the party last night.
Nagarjuna, staying fit!
Anil, ditto! Nice healthy older man work outs (Khans, take note! This is what you should be doing at your age)
‘
Now, this is a reasonable work out for Shahrukh, nice reasonable work out outfit, good arm work for an older guy, with a trainer right there to supervise.
This is NOT a reasonable work out for an older guy! This is a ridiculous work out is what this is.
And to end, our most surprising gym body and work out fiend…..
Anupam Kher!!!!
Now, here’s the question. Remember how you are in the gym and you look around and this is what is surrounding you? Now, out of all of these guys,
Who do you most want to ask you for a towel and strike up a conversation?
Normal Shahrukh for me. A nice older guy with a lowkey gym routine who seems like he would be good to get a cup of coffee with
Who do you LEAST want to ask you for a towel and strike up a conversation?
Hrithik I think. The guy posing perfectly by the mirrors, I feel like any conversation would revolve around what angle I think is his best side, and that’s just a boring conversation.
And which of these pictures would you put up in your gym locker for inspiration?
Obviously Akshay! I love the monkey bars
dontcallitbollywood 
Most like to ask for a towel/strike up a conversation: Anil or Anupam because they look like regular guys, but interesting, intelligent regular guys.
Least like to ask for a towel/strike up a friendship: everyone else. They’re too into themselves, or intimidatingly good looking, or both. 🙂
Inspiration: Prabhas, because I could look at that photo to distract me from how much I hate working out in a gym by thinking of the things we could do if he would just put those weights down!
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These are all excellent answers! And it really would be a strange gym that has all these guys in it, most of them seeming to take working out way way too seriously. I guess what feels strange is that they all seem like guys who would want to be the most attractive fittest one at their gym, so why would they be working out at the same place?
I will add regular Shahrukh to your “seems interesting normal guy” list. Not the crazy 6 pack version, but the one who is just lifting dumbbells in a t-shirt.
(Shahrukh lifting dumbbells without a shirt)
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 3:43 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Don’t talk about Kareena like that! 😉
They certainly all seem like guys who would not go to any gym that I could afford to go too. But that’s probably because I know who they are. It’s really tough to know how I’d perceive any of them if I didn’t know who they were. Especially Shah Rukh–though I liked his face from the first time I saw it on cheesy movie posters in Ethiopia, way back in 2001. So much so that I remembered it and his name in 2015 when I decided to try a Bollywood movie. 🙂
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Ugh, extra “o” on that 3rd to in the first sentence.
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I have never made a typo in my life and obviously have no patience with anyone who does.
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 3:58 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You seem to be in a good mood. Hope that means that you liked Sanju? Or have you not seen it yet?
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Haven’t seen it yet, the air conditioner just broke at work. Which should make me sad, only it means we all get to go home early, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 4:12 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I was just talking to someone about John Abraham, who married a woman from New York he met at the gym. Which was maybe that situation, she just asked a nice looking guy for a towel, not know he was a movie star.
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 3:57 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I didn’t know that. Nice story!
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The alternative version is that she befriended Bips at the gym in order to steal her boyfriend. But either way, she doesn’t seem to have known he was a movie star.
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 4:32 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You forgot Kunal Kapoor – the only guy in the world who can sport a man bun and not look ridiculous. https://www.befitandfine.com/kunal-kapoor-fitness-secret-diet-workout/
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You are correct on both counts! He deserves to be in this post, and also he is the only man in the world who can pull off a manbun.
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 5:20 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Those photos: #1, mushy but cuddly, would still do. #2 Nice! #3 Even nicer! #4 Nooooo, pump the brakes, you went too far!
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Truly, an informative slide show that should be shown to all men before they begin their gym journey.
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 6:38 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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So this has nothing to do with Sanju but I was at the beach in Santa Monica today and saw a Desi wedding lunch of some kind taking place (maybe the ring exchange ceremony?). It was at an outdoor patio at a very swanky hotel and all the guests were dressed to the teeth in gorgeous silks. I don’t know the names of any of the clothing but for example one man was wearing gold silk pants, gold leather slippers and a long blue tunic embroidered in gold at the collar. There were white folks there also dressed in saris and (whatever male tunics are called). The person I assume was the groom even looked like the white husband from Veere Di Wedding. It was really an amazing sight. Everyone was obviously wealthy and I felt like I’d wandered into a Bolly dance number.
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Is it possible you wondered into a time loop and were looking at Preity Zinta’s wedding from a couple years ago? Because that is exactly what it was like! Big and Indian and in California with white people.
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 7:18 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Most want to strike up a conversation with me: Prithviraj! He is wearing normal clothes and seems to be concentrating on his workout, not having his picture taken.
Not for me: Shahid. Hats while working out is kind of gross.
Incidentally reading this after finishing my own workout, and wearing black boot cut pants and a t- shirt from my college, if anyone’s interested. I cannot imagine having a hat on.
And I prefer current Arjun K. I like my guys a bit squishy.
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Hats while working out is super gross! I’ll forgive it on Anil, because it seems like he is very focused and the hat is there to keep him out of photographs, but it’s ridiculous on everyone else. Especially Hrithik.
On Sat, Jun 30, 2018 at 6:13 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You asked some very important questions so I just had to take a break from my holiday and answer:
I would ask for a towel: Prabhas
I would not ask: Ranbir ( no surprise here)
Inspiration: Arjun Kapoor
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It’s me, Angie 🙋
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Excellent answers! Prabhas seems like the kind of guy who would be open to having a casual conversation with someone over a towel. But maybe not be brave enough to strike up a conversation for himself.
I would not ask Ranbir either!
I would worry about Arjun Kapoor as inspiration, since he doesn’t have the best track record for keeping the gym weight off. Of course, I don’t either.
On Sun, Jul 1, 2018 at 3:27 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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True about Arjun, but maybe that’s why I find him inspirational- we can change our bodies if we work hard. Much better than for example Hrithik who was always this muscular and doesn’t even look like human.
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Wait a second, I just realized you picked Prabhas and left both Maddy and Tovino on the table! Are you swinging Telugu now? Or is this just a gym thing?
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No, it’s just a beard thing I guess. I didn’t pick Tovino because I hate this hipster beard with all my heart. And Maddy is super handsome as always but is shaved and Prabhas is not, and as we know (good) beard is better than no beard always.
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This is completely logical.
On Mon, Jul 2, 2018 at 1:26 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Maddy, everyday, and twice on Sundays 😉
Just the right level of non-steroidal bulk on a naturally stocky guy.
Runner up – Arjun Rampal.
Just the right level of non-steroidal bulk on a naturally skinny guy.
Salman looks like the typical my-aged muscle-guy who would look right through me to the 25YO well-toned hottie behind me. I don’t need a conversation with middle aged men who seek validation through far-younger women.
Sanjay in this photo looks like the typical attractive but needy younger man who would approach me at the gym. He likes older women because “they know what they want”, yet he will throw an emo-fit if what I want doesn’t align with what he wants me to want lol.
If I have to look at anyone every time I open my gym locker, there’s only one choice – Maddy, but a photo which includes his mega-watt toothy-grin smile. But a man-bunned Kunal would be nice too.
Honorable mentions…
At 60+, Khirron is lucky to go home every night to a hubby that wants to look like that for her. Vicariously thrilled for her!
Ajay’s body truly is perfection. I don’t find his face attractive, but that body more than makes up for it. Kajol is one lucky lady.
The guys at my gym tend to look like Ranbir (in this photo) and Anil. A certain amount of fitness, a certain amount of muscle, yet a certain amount of padding too. These are guys who put in their 100% for a half hour at the gym every morning, but who otherwise don’t obsess over every last muscle the rest of the day.
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Throwing an emo fit and looking for a mother figure in a girlfriend sounds EXACTLY like the stories about young Sanjay. Even without the drugs, I still wouldn’t want to date him.
Ajay’s body really is perfection. And so well proportioned! It’s not just the muscles, it’s the ratio of shoulder to waist, arm length to shoulder width, legs to torso, even head to neck is perfect.
Maddy is always good. Arjun too, except I am worried that the next time he will try to rush the weight loss/gym body and end up turning his bulk into muscle, instead of first slimming down to a healthy weight and then bulking up.
I still really want Salman to grow up and end up with someone his own age. Preferably Karisma. But Tabu is still officially single too. And Sushmita! They would all be good for him.
My gym (when I go to it, which isn’t for over a year. Whatever, I have a dog now) actually does have a body builder who goes there regularly. Which is a different body type than all these guys, more about muscles on muscles than the six pack.
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