Bollywood's six-pack craze catches on in Tamil cinema

THE NEW CRAZE: Earlier it was all about the size, not it's about a toned body.

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Chennai: It's the Bollywood six-pack effect on Tamil cinema — virtually every actor now wants to show off their bodies. While the younger one's are showing off their genuine six-pack abs, the older stars too seem to finding ways to show off their perfect bodies.

Kollywood's rising young star Vishal is working hard for what now seems like every Kollywood hero's great aspiration: a six-pack ab. And the inspiration is obviously King Khan's Dard-e-Disco.

“I saw Shah Rukh in Om Shanti Om and I thought why don't I do something like this? And it wasn't like I did this to do a shirtless scene for a film; it was a sensual number,” he says.

It’s not just Vishal though. Even established stars like Surya and Dhanush have unveiled their six-pack abs, but not all of them have been inspired by Shah Rukh.

“Actually Aamir Khan was the inspiration for me. I saw his photos and stills and I was like wow, how's this possible at his age,” Surya says.

The six-pack craze has meant that the typical tough hero in Tamil cinema is no longer a stout and broad star wearing a vest to hide the bulge and beating up the baddies. It was all about size then, now it's all about a toned body.

Even 53-year-old Kamal Hassan showed off his muscles in Dasavatharam and Rajinikanth wore a six-pack body suit for Kuselan.

Even for the youngsters it’s not easy to achieve that perfect frame.

“Vices are definitely an obstruction if you want to have a perfect physique,” Vishal explains.

“If I have to be really honest it's not easy to maintain the six pack throughout the year. There's a very strict diet you have to maintain and it's not easy to maintain it. You have to let it go,” Surya adds.

“Tamil industry wasn't like this 3-4 years ago. Senior stars are also getting fit and the younger stars are also taking it up as a challenge to not look obese and to look fit,” Vishal says.

So even for all those stars that've spent years in stardom, it's perhaps time to sweat it out in the gym.