CHENNAI: Bodybuilder V Jayaprakash, one of the prime reasons actor Vikram sported his much talked about musculature in the recently-released Tamil flick I, bagged himself a prize money of `5 lakh and the title ‘Steel Man of Tamil Nadu’ at a State-level Bodybuilding Championship, conducted by Chennai District Amateur Bodybuilding Association, on Monday.
Vikram, who was the chief guest for the occasion, said, “There are several people here who have helped me with my training in various films. Jayaprakash, who is my gym trainer, is one of them.” The actor soon handed over the championship trophy and a cheque to his trainer. Earlier, over 200 participants had begun their quest to the title through nine weight categories. By the time the clock struck 7 pm, the number had whittled down to nine.
Praising his trainer after the competition was over, Vikram,said, “I know how difficult it is to do something like this.” He added, “We think that it’s easy to pose with masculine looks. But I have fainted several times while doing the same during the shoot for I. Each pose is as tiring as sprinting a 100 metres two times in a row.”
The actor was also effusive in his praise for the fans, more than a 1,000 strong, who had turned up for the competition. “It is heartening to see that bodybuilding has such a huge fan base here,” he said. As responsive as the fans were, it was clear that a large part of the crowd was there only to catch a glimpse of the actor. The few body uilding fans in the hall couldn’t watch nearly half of the final round, mainly due to the crowd that surrounded the actor.
Satish Sivalingam, Commonwealth Games gold medalist in weightlifting, and Isari Ganesh, vice chancellor of Vels University, were present.