Three-time reigning Mr India champion as well as the first Indian to win the Mr Asia title, Suhas Khamkar plans to take the world of bodybuilding by storm. He started off as a bicycle repair man, but he has now risen to such a position that he is considering taking up politics and acting in Bollywood.
Coming from a humble background in Kolhapur, Khamkar was spotted by a sponsor who turned his life around, allowing him the opportunity to become India’s most successful bodybuilder.
KL: You came from a sporting family, but how exactly did you come to choose bodybuilding?
SK: My dad was a wrestler and my dad’s dad was also a wrestler, all my family play sport and my big brother is also a bodybuilder, but not a professional. As a boy I was very thin and I was not so much into bodybuilding. I just started going to the gym to build up a bit of body strength and there was this gym competition going on at the time.
The competition was just for guys in the gym so I participated in it and I got third place. About 20-25 days later there was a district-level competition and me and my friend decided to participate and again I got third place. I was very happy and I was impressing people – it inspired me to think that I could do it. I was only 15-years-old. After one year of working out, I just kept on getting bigger and I decided I wanted to go into bodybuilding as a profession.
After placing high in competitions so early in your career, when did you register your first win?
My first win was at 16 in a Mr Kolhapur competition. I took it very seriously and worked very hard and entered all the state competitions and after nine competitions I finally got a first place. I was so passionate about bodybuilding, I had to do it as my profession.
Before this I was working for the railways for seven or eight years as a ticket collector, and I won five gold medals in the All India Railways competition, before winning Mr India and then the Mr Asia title in Bahrain. Then I got third position in Mr World and at Mr Olympia I was a runner up.
How punishing is the daily routine of a bodybuilder?
I start my morning at 4am and do a workout. Then it’s all about diet. I have carbohydrates, then I workout for three or four hours. I eat eggs, protein shakes, fruits, juice. After two hours I have the same, then another two hours I do the same, then I have tanning and I walk for 45 minutes. Then I have two hours’ rest, then a four hour evening workout. All bodybuilders do workout training. Mine is a different workout and that’s why I win.
You’ve already achieved so much in bodybuilding, what are your goals in the sport?
My target is history, my target is big. I want to make history, because I have so much passion for the sport, I want to do it for a long time. In India I have all the records so I have only my records to break.
How much of a local celebrity has bodybuilding made you?
Because of me, most of the bodybuilders stop because they don’t win, they can’t compete. They’re just waiting for me to go so they can jump in. I have a big Facebook and Twitter following, around 5,000, and I get more invites each day.
Wherever I go for a show, the young crowds go really crazy for me. I did one show and the people just wanted to touch me. I ran to my car and the police had to stop the crowd. There are also a lot of fake accounts in my name. The youth follow my style, my hairstyle, clothes…
And beyond bodybuilding, you have some ambitious plans. Is that right?
I am thinking that in the future I would like to do politics. Not a party, I want to do something for society and for sportsmen. It was very hard for me to get to where I am so I want to give something back to society. National politics, not just the local community.
My target is also to be in movies. I am in a film called Whose voice is this? This is my only part so far but I would like to get into Bollywood. I would like to be a main character. In my current movie, it is a guest appearance. I would like to open doors for others.
I came from a very poor background, conditions were very difficult. I have come out of that and I know how hard it is to come out of that. When I get the opportunity to work as a sports minister or whatever, I know where the facilities are lacking. I know what a sportsman needs to succeed, what the laws should be and where the support should be, the sponsorship – I know the grass roots, I know the bottom-line.
There are so many people who come from the countryside with no facilities at all and no education about what to eat and what to do. I know where to go, I can change the laws and bring in a proper system. I would give equal importance to all the sports and look to find the potential in every citizen.
With such importance being placed on having huge muscles, how much of a problem is doping in the world of bodybuilding?
Drug testing is very strict. In India, they have one test but internationally you have tests before and after the competition. It’s very strict, they find out if you have taken supplements, fever tablets. If something goes wrong then that’s your career [gone].
I don’t take anything. The tests are so strict it would be near impossible to get away with it. If they catch you, they ban you for three years.
Has there been one turning point in your career?
I was a bicycle repairman and it was very difficult. The turning point was when I met a person who recognised my talent and sponsored me. That meant I could continue bodybuilding. This was seven years ago, that was when everything changed.
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