BOYS AND BRAWN: Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan have become role models for bodybuilders

One day Mahesh Khokarale was a young man with bulging muscles. The next day he was dead.

Mumbai’s multi-million fitness industry was shaken when the 25-year-old bodybuilder died of malaria last week. Khokarale’s story was the stuff of fairy tales. He lived in the mill land area of Currey Road and came from a humble family. But he became a trainer in a gym — and was soon being talked about as a promising bodybuilder.

Khokarale was training to enter the Bharat Shree competition — a contest of bodybuilders — to be held in 2010. But a mild bout of fever put an end to his dream. When he stopped responding to treatment, he went to a civic hospital. There he went into a coma and died. Doctors at the KEM hospital found that though he had a mild form of malaria, his liver had been completely damaged by the use of excessive steroids.

Khokarale was a roider — as anabolic steroid taking gym rats are called. His death has brought into focus the rampant use of steroids among bodybuilders in Mumbai. Experts suspect that many more Mahesh Khokarales are waiting to happen out there.

There are several harmful side effects of steroid abuse. It can lead to impotency, infections, prostate cancer, liver damage and renal failure.

Unlike the bodybuilders and weightlifters of Haryana and Punjab who are well built, the ones from Maharashtra are genetically not so gifted. Many come from lower middle class families. After Mumbai ceased to be a textile hub following a spate of mill strikes in the Eighties, unemployed Maharashtrian boys took to going to the local gyms run by the Shiv Sena.

For the Sena, it was a great way to recruit the boys. But the process spawned an entire unorganised industry of bodybuilders. This, combined with the fact that even village boys in rural belts thrive on strength training through wrestling in their village akhadas (rings), gave birth to a whole generation of Maharashtrian gym trainers and bodybuilders.

Many of the trainers and bodybuilders take steroids to add to muscles and strength. Some estimate that bodybuilders have been abusing anabolic steroids for the last 20 years, though the widespread misuse of steroids began in the last five years. The craze for steroids was further spurred by two famous Bollywood stars, whose amazing pectorals and six packs became the talk of the town.

It’s easy to get your hands on steroids because the drugs are sold over the counter in India — a practice that adds to the misuse. “They simply shatter the inborn limitations of your body and make you bigger, beefier and stronger and give you the chiseled six pack look that you crave for, the defined cuts, the biceps and triceps and the wow look,” says Nisar Khan, a bodybuilder from Mumbai.

But doctors warn that they can lead to serious complications. Testicular atrophy, for instance, is one of the fallouts of steroid abuse. “I know of so many bodybuilders who are impotent and have had divorces,” says Dr Dhananjay More, a fitness professional himself. “Steroids are not recreational drugs. They can be dangerous. Your body might even stop producing hormones,” he says.

Dr More testifies to the abuse of steroids among bodybuilders and weightlifters. “I would say 10 out of 10 bodybuilders take steroids. In fact, not just bodybuilders but weightlifters and other sportsmen who are involved in fields that showcase your strength are using them rampantly as steroids give them an unfair edge by enhancing their physical performance.”

Despite the negative impact of steroids — which most bodybuilders know about — why are young men from Mumbai in the fitness industry using steroids? “There is not much prize money in competitions — Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, at the most — but there is a lot of glamour,” says Nitesh Waghdhare, a fitness expert and trainer. “Once you are Mr Bombay, Junior Bombay, Mr Maharashtra or Mr India, you are noticed in the industry.”

It is also the route to jobs. “Most Maharashtrians aspire for government and corporate jobs. Once you are a title holder, you get a job. The railways and groups such as the Mahindras are always game for employing sportspeople,” Waghdhare says.

Some of the well-known bodybuilders also have connections with the Mumbai film industry. Until two years ago, actor Salman Khan was being trained by Manish Advilkar, who had held the Mr Bombay and Mr Maharashtra titles.

Dr More says the sports ministry needs to get into doping tests at the local and national levels for most strength-related sports to counter the misuse of steroids. “Right now the attitude among sportspersons is that they can reach a certain level without any dope tests, so they needn’t worry. Checks take place only in the international arena — but they feel they can survive until then.”

The consensus among the trainers who shun drugs is that it’s possible to excel without steroids. And while genetics play a big role, it is hard work and a good diet that make you a champion — and not chemical sorcery. Somebody should have told Mahesh Khokarale that.