NEW DELHI: Salman Khan may not be a good actor. Sunil Shetty is not exactly good looking. So what? Success and fame are not just the prerogative of the talented and the beautiful in the masala of cine world. Good bodies count too just as good figures make thousand heads turn in the modelling world.

In this game of weight loss, it is all gains for everyone - clients gain good physique with fitness centres and equipment makers gaining business.

This growing interest in fitness and body building is not an outcome of self-obsession, rather of media-obsession - the round the clock beaming of bodies beautiful. "The physical exercise programmes on the television besides the handsome bodies of modern day icons like film stars and beauty queens has made people immensely interested in health and fitness work-outs," says Dr Vinod Goyal of ABC Healthline Pvt Ltd.

Yashpal Karval of Prime Fitness Equipments agrees. "The fights in WWF wrestling may be fake but their bodies do inspire the younger generation which makes our customer segment." But female clients are slow to come by. Conservative attitudes besides the word `club' itself leads to many apprehensions.

"It depends on the area. In cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh, girls do go to gymnasiums or buy health equipment. But there is always time gap for females to get interested. It is usually after one year of fitness culture gaining ground in a town or city that girls start going to such centres."

Most players in this health game made an entry seven to eight years back. Since then the market has grown.

Karval started business in 1989 with an investment of just Rs 20,000. With an annual growth rate of 25 to 30 per cent, his turnover rose to Rs 7.5 lakh last year. "Initially, I used to fabricate steam and sauna baths. But now I am supplying all types of latest machines." But, the fitness boom, especially for equipment manufacturers, has slowed down in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai though the business is still growing with an increase in health awareness.

"The market for health and fitness equipment looked up during the eighties and peaked in the early nineties. Thereafter, it reached a plateau and levelled off," says Raj Kumar Dhingra of Power House Health Club.

Karval feels that the market has stagnated especially in Delhi and Mumbai. "We don't get many inquiries now compared to the earlier boom. I would now like to go towards the South where the concept is still to gain ground." He recently executed a Rs 1-lakh project for a health club in Mangalore.

Goyal's Healthline, which did a business worth Rs 40 lakh last year, also plans to move southwards. Goyal has already made a dent in Kanpur, Kochi and Bangalore.

Goyal, a naturopath by qualification, had first started a nature cure clinic. In fact, many health club owners diversify into manufacturing later. "I wanted good quality machines so I decided to enter into manufacturing and set up Healthline with an initial investment of Rs 2 lakh." He has been supplying and installing multigyms and slimming, stretching and weight lifting machines for health clubs and hotels.

While it was need which brought Goyal into manufacturing, Dhingra himself being a national level swimmer had a passion for fitness.

Goyal feels there is little competition in equipment manufacturing despite the profit margins being as high as 30 to 40 per cent. Not many people are into it though a number of foreign brands are also being sold in the country.

Dhingra, however, views differently. "The competition has grown steadily over the years with many companies purporting to give the best in weight loss. But India is still in its teens with a need for more professional approach."

Calling the fitness culture as the game of the developed countries, Goyal says India has been in the field for only last 10 years or so as compared to over 50 years in the West. In the last four or five years, a number of small gymnasiums have come up. But with a good professional approach being necessary for survival, many are forced to down shutters.

"Accuracy is the most important thing in both manufacturing of equipment as well as health club guidance. For instance, if for developing shoulder muscles, the angle is not proper, one side can be higher than the other. This will make the body look abnormal," points out Karval.

With almost everyone conscious of the flab around the waist, the most popular of the health and fitness equipment is the abdominal exerciser which can cost anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 15,000.

Then there are multigymps and cardio vascular equipment besides stepper and joggers which are in great demand. Multigymps carry a price tag ranging from Rs 50,000 to over Rs 1 lakh. Therefore, the demand comes mainly from the rich upper strata besides hotels and clubs.

Yoga and the concept of akarras have been an intrinsic part of the Indian style of health consciousness for ages but they are losing ground to the fad for fitness through machines. Explains Goyal: "While yoga promises only a disease-free body, akarras are often labelled as unscientific way of developing flesh." In the age of fast food and fast growth, machines promise fast health. Moreover, with changing tastes, emphasis change. So from just healthy bodies, it is body beautiful.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.