First a fitness video, now a fitness clothes line. You obviously swear by good health!

Absolutely, I think everyone should do so. If you don’t have good health then you have nothing.

What is your favourite way of keeping fit?

I believe that every individual has to figure out what works for them. Because anything that is very forced or regimented is never enjoyable and you will never see the results because you will not do it from your heart.

There are people who like outdoor activities, others who like the gym more, or swimming, yoga, pilates… there’s just so much to choose from — a dance class, maybe.

A person like me, if you ask me what’s my favourite, I would always say I like conventional weight training with a mix of freehand cardio exercises. But then I enjoy everything else also.

So I’m not a person who would tell you that only if you do my Fit & Fabulous routine on my DVD, then only would you be fit and fabulous. There are many ways to do it. But through my first DVD, I have provided a routine that works for me and many people. It’s a 20-minute workout and it’s very effective, because of the short spurt of a lot of energy that you have to release. It’s for women who are shy to go to the gym, for those who don’t have the money to go to an expensive gym. It’s for all those people who are busy, who can’t give more than an hour to work out.

What’s BB Love Yourself all about?

I always wanted to do something on the lines of fitness and fashion and that’s when the idea came about for BB Love Yourself, the fitness line of clothing. Reebok came in as our partner and we decided to go ahead and do it with them.

The first thing you eat or drink in the morning...

The first thing that I drink is hot water. It depends on the mood, too. Sometimes I have plain hot water, sometimes with lime, sometimes a little bit of honey is also nice.

One thing you love eating but you often sacrifice for the sake of calories…

I’m very good with my eating habits. I’m a very disciplined person so I keep on rewarding myself with those few things that don’t really fall into the healthy category! I love mithai, I’m a true Bengali so I have a sweet tooth. I believe that once you’ve got your body in control and you understand what the meaning of healthy is, once in a while it’s absolutely okay to have your favourite sweet. I love a laddoo, or I love rasogolla, I love any sweet actually! Gajar ka halwa is my favourite. Tell me anything, the worst kind of sweet I also eat!

A physical challenge that your body has faced, maybe for a movie…

I don’t believe in unhealthy challenges for my body. There was only one healthy challenge that happened, when I was an unfit person, and I was offered the film No Entry. I was not doing it because, one, I was very intimidated with this Bollywood dance thing. Secondly, I was overweight and to play a dancer, you have to be dressed up in a particular way and I was not ready for it. But that film got me going. At that point of time, I wanted to lose my excess weight.

It also triggered a very amazing journey in my life. In the past few years, I’ve only learnt more about fitness and health. I was always fascinated by the body when I was in school, I loved biology. So, I started reading up on health and fitness, started trying out different techniques, routines, what works, what doesn’t work.

I also actually battled osteoarthritis, which I got very early in life. I’ve not really shared this with anybody. If you see me now you will never know that I had it, but that is my personal struggle. I got it at the age of 23-24 and it’s absolutely unfair but you need to solve the problem rather than cry about it. All these things make you a stronger person. Without it, no fame, no career, no money, no family can make you happy. You need health to enjoy all of it. That’s why I call my brand Love Yourself.