Meet 'Macho Man' of Mysore

Diehard:

A t once, he looks like ‘Kariya’ Vijay showing off his six packs. At another look, he definitely reminds one of yesteryear’s actor ‘Tiger’ Prabhakar, who had a huge fan following for his burly appearance.

When Nagabhushan, 30, began to work out hours on end at the gym, he was blindly doing what his peers did at that time. However, it didn’t take much time for him to think of toning up his body to compete with others. And, when he did, he walked home winning first prize in his debut competition itself. Now, he is 30 competitions old, boasting of medals and titles in his possession.

His tryst with dumb bells began in 1997 at Apollo Gymnasium in Chamundipuram. For two years, he concentrated on making himself fit, rather than thinking of hitting a ton in one go. He was a regular among spectators at the annual competitions conducted at the gymnasium. In the year 1999 he started to think up about trying his hand at the contest.

To his surprise, Nagabhushan finished first in medium class category, thus boosting his confidence level. He couldn’t keeep his temptation to win more, next and when the moment came he romped home with ‘Mr Apollo’ title. Since then, Nagabhushan has never looked back. He won first prize in district level competition organised during Dasara, first place in a State-level event at Jaganmohan Palace, first place winning ‘Mr Vikram’ title in Hunsur and ‘Mr Gold’ title in Mysore. Nagabhushan finished third in Belgaum and was selected to nationals, but in vain. He also took part in another national level event at Chattisgarh, but had to be satisfied for fifth place. “It was really tough with the bodybuilders of repute as your competitors” recalls Nagabhushan.

Ask him who is his role model, he points out at a poster of Arnold Schwarzenneger a bodybuilder turned Hollywood actor, now in politics as California Governor. “Unknowingly i had become a follower of Arnold. I was obsessed with the way he has acquired his physique”, says Nagabushan. He unleashed his love for his icon naming the gymnasium he opened at Hebbal after him; Arnold Multi Gym. Recently, he participated in the competitions conducted during Dasara and finished second. He credits all the success to  Y Nageshwar Rao, former ‘Mr India’ Mallesh and Pailwan Shankar Chakravarthi whom he calls as his gurus.