Mumbai: Goodness Gracious ! D'Costa Keeps Winning by Losing !

Daijiworld News Network - Mumbai (MB)
From various sources

Mumbai, Aug 16: Gracious D'Costa. A Wild Card Entry  The Don is back in the 'Biggest Loser Jeetega' show 
                                      
Biggest Loser Jeetega home is situated amidst the pure environs of Amby Valley City. Biggest Loser Jeetega is premiered on Sahara One Television - Friday to Sunday at 8 pm. Sixteen obese contestants are competing with each other for the battle of the bulge. The one to lose the most weight will be the proud winner. Everyone of the contestants is a winner in his or her own right as everyone will be on the way to healthy living.

The show owes its inspiration to a US show, ‘The Biggest Loser’ which was aired in October 2004 and kickstarted a fitness revolution among the viewers not only in the US but several other countries including Australia. (It has been running successfully for several seasons in Australia now). The international format of the show is owned by Reveille LLC, who have also produced successful shows like “Ugly Betty" and “The Office”. In India. The show is being produced by Rahul Agarwal of Star Entertainments.
    
The show has 16 contestants from all walks of life who will be divided into two teams. Everyone is here for different reasons but with a single aim. And to achieve this each team is assigned a trainer. The trainers' team is headed by former physiotherapist to the Indian cricket team, Andrew Leipus as Health and Fitness Director.

The team consists of Deepika Mehta and Yusef Khan who are experts and specialists in the fitness and training arena, and Varun Shivdasani (culinary nutritionist)  and Dr Ajit Desai (cardiologist). Bollywood action star Suniel Shetty made his debut on television as a host to the show. Being a fitness freak and sport lover himself, he is very excited about being a part of the show.
                     
Yusuf Khan and Deepika Mehta, trainer to stars like Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu, train the two teams. Guiding the contestants on the nutritional factor is Varun Shivdasani

Indian version of the weight loss reality TV show Biggest Loser is attracting a large following in a country increasingly grappling with obesity. As already said, 'Biggest Loser Jeetega' features 16 obese contestants closeted in a house near the western city of Mumbai for nearly four months with only trainers and fitness equipment for company.

Their goal: to lose as much weight as possible. Producers say the thrice weekly show, which attracted more than 15 million viewers over the very first two weeks, strikes a chord with many Indians who themselves are battling the bulge. Obesity, usually seen as a quintessentially Western phenomenon, is fast becoming a major health problem in rapidly developing countries like India and fellow Asian giant China, where fatter wallets are changing lifestyles.

"I find the show motivating," said 29-year-old teacher Shibi Mathew, who is trying to shed some of her 80 kgs after her recent pregnancy. "I am sure working together under the supervision of trainers, the contestants will lose weight but I am not convinced whether they will keep up the routine once the show is over."

Contestants enjoying their stay at Amby Valley

In a country where up to 300 million people live below the poverty line it may be surprising to discover that a reality television show encouraging contestants to lose weight is gripping Indian television audiences. 'Biggest Loser Jeetega', literally Biggest Loser Wins, has become one of the most popular programmes on Indian television, attracting more than 15 million viewers since it first started airing.

The show runs along similar lines to the various "reality"-billed weight-loss programmes that more commonly fill the airwaves of industrialized nations.

Sixteen contestants embark on a strict regimen to lose weight and the winner will be paid 100,000 rupees (£1,250), a veritable fortune to most Indians, for every kilogramme they lose. Each week the contestant deemed to be showing the least commitment to battling the bulge is voted off by their fellow teammates.

Gracious D'Costa, a Goan brought up in the United Arab Emirates, has now settled in Mumbai. 'Grace', as he is popularly called, is well known as a compere and disc jockey (DJ). He has worked with Star news and is currently into real estate business. He is a married toa Manglorean beauty by name Saveena, who is a fashion head designer consultant. Saveena is the daughter of Joseph (Benna) and Leena Pinto of Ummikhan, Kulshekar, Mangalore and the sister of Suman and Sushan.

Twelve weeks earlier, Gracious' weight was 112.2 kg  and his current weight is 85.2 kg, in effect losing almost almost 27 kgs

It’s Grace all the way!  Come rain or shine… Gracious just keeps winning. 'Biggest Loser Jeetega' completes week 12 and what a week it’s been! The Gods were smiling down on Gracious who with his Midas touch won everything he undertook! It was a different Gracious – calm and sober; but, just as all marvelled in the transformation, the old Gracious resurfaced !

As a prelude to the week’s challenge, the contestants are taken to the Amby Valley City airport airstrip and asked to sprint 400 metres as fast as they possibly could. Sandeep wins hands down followed by Ajay, Hiren, Natasha and Ravi paaji. But there is a twist to this challenge that they were not aware of!

On the day of the challenge they are blindfolded and taken to the airstrip. On opening their eyes they were shocked to see their own life-size cutouts which show them at the weight with which they had entered the show. Next to the cutouts are mannequins with jackets bearing weights.

The challenge - each contestant’s jacket contains the total weight that they have lost so far on the show. They will now wear it and once again run the 400 metres. The person with the least time difference between both races is the winner. Sandeep surely rued the day he ran so fast!

Soon the contestants found out that it was more difficult than they had ever imagined. Each step was accompanied by the pain of carrying that extra weight. Although Sandeep finished both the races before everyone, it was Gracious who was acclaimed the winner on the basis of the time difference.