Mandana Karimi is a well-known Iranian actress and model based in India. After working on several successful modelling projects around the world, she appeared as a lead in the Bollywood film, Bhaag Johnny. She participated in the popular reality TV show, Bigg Boss 9 and became the 2nd runner up in 2015.
Mandana Karimi joins us at Women Fitness to talk about her journey to Bollywood, her favourite workouts and the perks of being a social media star.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Share your childhood in Iran, when did you first realize your passion for modelling and acting?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
Well I come from a very strict and muslim background. I have always been very expressive but very shy. I really didn’t know anything about modeling or acting but I remember that I used to dance in front of the mirror in our bathroom and I used to do things like that when nobody was around.
When I grew up I realized that I loved taking pictures and I love being in pictures but I didn’t really know if I want to become a model and to be honest I just wanted to get out of Iran. Then modelling just happened and it was more of a late realisation for me and I became a model when I was eighteen and since then it’s been great, it’s been an amazing experience. Specially in the beginning because I used to make money and travel and as a teenager it’s quite fun.
Acting started for me much later on when I started doing a lot of TV commercials and I realized that I like being in front of the camera, I like the whole process of making films and being in front of camera so that’s how it started and to be honest it has nothing to do with my childhood because I have had a very extremely different childhood than any kids around me at this point and I didn’t train for it or have a dream to be a model it happened to me and i think it was early and Acting especially now has become my passion and it’s something that since the past two years I’ve taken very seriously. I’m training myself, I’m learning about acting and about myself, about my body everyday more and more and I think that has been my calling and I’m very lucky to do what I love.
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President womenfitness.org and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2019 Women Fitness Org
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Fitness plays a very important role especially when you are in the industry, tell us how you maintain your fitness regime? Share your cardio and strength routine?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
Yes fitness plays a very important role in the industry that I am in but I think fitness plays important role in any industry and everyone’s life. I used to play a lot of sports in school and I’ve always been fond of being outdoor but for me my workout and my regime has become more serious since the past two years. I really don’t have a specific routine but if I am shooting the whole day and I haven’t managed to go to the gym then I’ve made it a habit to do some sort of exercise or to control what I eat and example if I’m shooting the whole they for like ten minutes or fifteen minutes I do a very quick workout which could be a core workout or squats. When I have three days I do have a one trainer, who I train with and I have another guy who actually programs my workout and my diet and it comes as a email so I follow that.
A Cardio for me is playing some sort of a sport because I don’t really like running on the treadmill but it is one really important part of your workout, so I’ve started again because I was in Zurich for a year and a half so I couldn’t really run or do any sort of sport so I used to do boxing before so now I’m backing into my boxing because for me to its a great form of cardio and it helps you to work on your stamina so that’s one favourite cardio that I have or play some sports, it could be football or cricket. Recently, I’ve started playing cricket.
My other training is a lot of bodyweight, using my own body weight and twice a week I have heavy lifting which helps me to grow to grow myself stronger because at the same time when you’re trying to stay fit you need to also work on your muscle.
Particularly I don’t really follow any sort of a diet, I’m a big foodie and I don’t believe in starving my body. I believe in keeping my body happy because when your body is happy then you see the results and to be honest you need to make any sort of a workout a part of your lifestyle it shouldn’t be something which is a force because the moment you force your body, the moment you put stress on it that I have to go to gym, I have to do cardio, I have to diet, you are actually sending the wrong signal to your body and that doesn’t really work, you just become really restless, you waste a lot of energy and you don’t really see any result.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Do you follow any particular diet? What are the main foods that are a big no-no in your diet?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
Like I said I don’t really follow any diet and I don’t really have cheat days because I believe in not starving myself and not letting my body used to not getting things that I like. So one mistake that many people make is that they have this one day that they call a cheat day when they eat whatever, it doesn’t really work for me atleast.
What I do, lets say if I’m feeling like eating a chocolate or pizza or something I eat it and I try to kind of makeup for it in my workout or for example if I’m going to someone’s for a meeting I climb the stairs because I didn’t manage to workout and of course your food, it plays a very important part of your workouts and diet but then following a routine, having a dedication to do your diet which could be let’s say if you set a body goal, you want to achieve something right so you just control you food.
I don’t really go off let’s say carbs or off chocolate off ice cream or pizza, I do eat it, I enjoy it but not a big quantity and also one habit that I have is that I eat very small portions of food and I eat usually like four to five meals a day and hydration is very important to me, it could be drinking water, drinking coconut water and I don’t really as I said again I don’t really follow any diet, I keep my body really happy and I workout and it has become a part of my lifestyle.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You were also one of the runners up in the popular reality TV show, Bigg Boss 9. How was your experience with Bigg Boss house? Any comments on the latest season Bigg Boss 13?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
Yes I was on Season 9. It was a life changing experience for me because it is that one thing that I’ve done in my life that has given me so much, the show has given me so much, I’ve learned so much about myself, I’ve understood that how strong I am and how my strength comes from the strength of my mind which is so important because sometimes it doesn’t matter how fit your body is if you don’t have a strong mind and if you don’t have strong believes it could lead you to a lot of problems.
It was a great experience for me, I had a lot of fun, I had a lot of down times and I would never forget the experience that I had in the Bigg Boss house and it has given me so much and about the latest season, I haven’t watched any of the episodes but I believe the show did really well this season and I’m happy to hear that the TRPs were quite high and people were entertaining the audience.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Your Instagram @Mandanakarimi with 1million followers, is no less an internet sensation, tips on how to keep it real on social media
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
Thank you for the compliment! I manage my Instagram. I keep updating my fans about what I do and what I eat and again to be honest it has to do with the way you are or it could get really toxic if you fake or if you’re not going to say what you feel but I enjoy it a lot because you can tell a lot of stories through the videos and pictures that’s what I love about Instagram.
There are days when I’m not feeling well or I’m not in my highest motivated mood you can also see that on my Instagram because I think that’s what is the beauty of social media is to stay true to yourself and I try not to misguide my audience, my fans because it could be a very dark place because I go through a lot of accounts and you see it’s all beautiful, it’s all filtered they say the right things, they do the right things but at the end of it, we are all humans and we all have flaws and our flaws are beautiful.
So I try to keep it real like if I’m feeling something or if I have a opinion on something or if I feel what’s happening to the society or what’s happening around me is not right, I do definitely talk about it on my social media and there have been days when I was feeling really low for what I was going through in my personal life and in my work life, I’ve spoken about it and I think that is the reason why a lot of people are connecting with me.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Your recent venture into the kitchen line, is something that is very different and interesting, tell us how did you come up with this idea and put it through action?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
Mandana’s kitchen came to life when I didn’t know where my career’s going and I had this really tough time where I wasn’t getting work, I wasn’t very happy, I didn’t know want to do and I always wanted to own a cafe or a restaurant so I tried my hand and I’m from Iran so I thought I know my food, I can cook and I knew a couple of people who can help me on this venture and let’s just try it.
Fortunately, it was a great success and at the moment I’m looking for a partner to take forward the brand because we did really well, the quality was great, people were enjoying the food because in Mumbai, we don’t really have authentic Iranian place.
I found out that food is my first love, I’m a big foodie and that made a huge difference because of the person that I am the food was very authentic yet healthy and delicious and hopefully very soon I’m going to open a sit down cafe somewhere in Bandra and I’ll definitely keep you guys posted on it.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Your favourite form of exercise and your least favourite? Best exercise while you travel?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
My favourite workout is abs, doing core exercises and doing legs. My least favourite is doing upper body because that’s my weakest and I don’t have a very strong back or arms or shoulders. It’s not my least interesting but on days that I’m doing arms and back and shoulders, I love seeing there results but it’s quite painful because it’s something that I’m really working hard on right now.
While I’m traveling if I have enough time I usually workout before I head to the set so if I’m staying at a hotel which has a decent gym then I will gym but if not, I do travel with my workout bands which helps me to do a little bit of legs workout and some abs so it’s basically 15-20 minutes of using my bodyweight, it could be squats or abs or using whatever is available in the room or using the bed, using the pillows, using technically anything to just have that 15-20 minutes of sweating it out because it kind of makes me feel fresh and it makes me get ready for set.
If I have a really early morning, I usually workout after I’m back to the hotel and it could be just a simple cardio or swimming or the 20 minutes of intense workout using my body weight or going to the gym and using the weights at the gym.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Any 3 tips for your fans to how to get the bikini fit body?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
We all have a different shape and we all are beautiful in our own ways but if you’re looking for a flat tummy, it has to do a lot with your food and it has to do a lot with the certain workouts that you do.
- You need to set a goal
- You need to buy a really nice bikini or any basic bikini
- To understand there is no bikini body type. It’s just the way you look happy and it’s just the feeling when you look at yourself and you like what you see that’s when you get the bikini body but in my case it has to do a lot with my workout routine, it has to do with my favourite core exercises, which I do train my core 3 or 4 times a week
Getting abs has been my dream for many many years and finally after so many years I’ve managed to achieve a little bit and so it’s not a overnight kind of a process, it takes time, it takes a lot of a hard work and it takes a lot of just trusting yourself and believing that you can get it.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You have been skinny-shamed, body-shamed, and also trolled on religious grounds for wearing a bikini quite a few times, your comment on the same? How do you survive these personal comments?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
Internet could be a very dark place as well when you don’t have confidence and you don’t know who you are, you don’t know where you come from and you forget your struggle and I used to get bothered before, this is a few years ago, and I used to think why people are so nasty and no one is happy for each other. Why do you have to make so many comments on people’s personal life, the way they look, the way they talk, their accent, you’re fat, you’re skinny, you’re dark, you’re white and it’s really unfair that some people they can just say anything about anyone.
I’ve realized that because sometimes I look at someone and they look great and really beautiful and they do whatever but then you see some people they don’t like them so I have realized that it doesn’t matter how you look, it doesn’t matter how much you weigh, it doesn’t matter where you come from, people are going to talk and some people they are going to like you, some people they’re going to hate you. You’ve got to make some friends, you’re going to make some enemies, its a fact that that’s how life is, not everyone going to love you, not everyone is going to agree with you that you’re doing right or you’re doing wrong.
So I stopped bothering about the comments anymore and what I do I accept the love that I’m getting, I appreciate the love that I’m getting on social media and I ignore the rest. To be honest the beauty of life sometimes is just to feel empathy for these people who are making these comments because it just shows how unsatisfied and sad they are in their life so I do kind of connect with them as well, I empathize with them.
I have grown out of it, I don’t think anything that they say because it doesn’t change Mandana, it doesn’t really affect me because I know who I am. I know how I look and I’m happy to say I love myself and I couldn’t be happier, I’m in a great space and some person who I don’t even know who they are, by coming and saying nasty things about my body, about the country that I’ve come from or about my beliefs so it doesn’t affect me at all.
What I want to add to this is that I want to tell the young people not to get so affected by social media it’s a great place to be its a fun place to be and be happy and enjoy connecting to new people and don’t give attention to the negative people and enjoy the love, enjoy the attention, enjoy the beauty of it instead of getting affected by the negatives and things that people say about you.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Your comment on Women Fitness as a website and the work we do to educate women about health and fitness?
Ms. Mandana Karimi:
It’s just fantastic! You guys are doing a great job because education and educating a woman is so important, educating a daughter is so important because they are our future. It makes me happy and puts a smile on my face, seeing that women empowerment, women knowing their body more, they knowing their worth and being confident in their own way, it’s so important and you guys are doing a great job and I hope we do have more people who are actually doing this and it’s not only the talk about empowerment, it’s talking about getting fit and you guys are doing the job .
Thank you so much for your fabulous question and I’ll talk to you guys soon. Keep the good work going and I wish you all the luck, all the success and do more good for our generation, for our women and I wish you guys and the team all the best thank you so much!
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This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President womenfitness.org and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2019 Women Fitness Org