In the unforgiving world of the internet, it is not a piece of cake to go from being a meme to a muse. For Anant Ambani, the youngest of industrialist Mukesh Ambani's three children, this journey, in fact, required exactly 18 months and a loss of 108 kilograms in body weight.
Anant, whose appearance was often the subject of harsh jokes, is now being called an inspiration by many, including fitness enthusiasts such as actor Salman Khan and cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The junior Ambani has a history of chronic asthma. The medication he took as a child caused him to gain excessive weight.
A year and a half ago, Anant supposedly decided to take control of his health. It is said he worked towards losing weight in natural and safe ways, following a strict diet and exercising for five to six hours every day. This, according to some reports, was despite a reckoning among doctors that losing weight naturally would be a Herculean task.
Little else is widely known about Anant. He declined a request for an interview for this report. Anant has no apparent Twitter or Facebook accounts. His elder siblings, Isha, having ranked among Forbes' youngest billionaire heiresses, and her twin Akash, having given an interview or two, are relatively more exposed. As it follows, the twins have a Wikipedia entry each but the youngest Ambani does not feature there. While Isha studied psychology at Yale, Anant has reportedly followed in his brother's footsteps to study at Brown University.
There are references to his love for animals and wildlife, but the only substantiation to this are photos with his pet dogs. His passion for cricket is obvious as he is often in the dugout of his father's Mumbai Indians side at the Indian Premier League, visibly expressing emotions as the games progress.
His dramatic weight loss was noticed during a recent visit to Mumbai's Somnath Temple and at his 21st birthday celebration, following which personalities from sports, film and business gave him public congratulations. Reports closer to the end of March stated he had lost 70 kilos. That number climbed to 108 in updates in April.
A US-based fitness expert is believed to have guided Anant through the exercise.
Going by an old Times of India interview, Anant and Nita had once spent some time in a children's obesity hospital in Los Angeles. Nita reportedly used to maintain the same diet as her son, to motivate him, and would accompany him on walks.
Heath forums wonder whether it is medically advisable to lose high levels of weight as Anant did in the last few months of his fitness journey.
While news of the miracle transformation went viral, stray jokes continue to be made. The burden of billionaire celebrity is going to be harder to shed.
