Milind Soman: 'Challenges always make you rethink your life and reinvent yourself'

One remembers Milind Soman for giving some of the iconic fashion moments in history including his sensual image with model Madhu Sapre and The Python in the 90s. However, his female fan following saw a new peak when he came out of a box in the 1995 hit song ‘Made In India’ sung by Alisha Chinai. “I think the Made in India song and me coming out of a box is one of the things people remember most about the 90’s pop culture in India,” Milind Soman told Firstpost.

No one could have done a better job in that iconic song than Milind and now when rapper Raja Kumari has come up with an interpolation of that cult classic, he says that he loved the new interpretation too.  “I liked Raja Kumari’s interpretation of the song, she has got a great personality and I am sure people will love the video as well, especially with Madhuri Dixit in it. Some might still miss me coming out of a box though, who knows,” he said.

Raja Kumari has paid tribute to Indian culture and heritage through the new version of Made In India. She said that it represents the new India and the essence of Indians across the world. Madhuri appears in the second half of the song sporting a golden outfit.  The 56- year- old model, actor, fitness pundit, maverick, and also a writer of his autobiography Made in India (co-authored by Roopa Pai), appeared in almost 15-16 other videos from 1995 to 1997 after ‘Made in India’, notably Asha Bhosle’s ‘Raat Shabnami’ and Sonu Nigam’s ‘Is Kadar Pyar Hai Tumse’.

“All these videos were made after I stopped modelling full time in 1995,” said Milind, who was born as a middle-class boy from Shivaji Park, central Mumbai, and later made it to the world stage when he made his acting debut with ‘A Mouthful of Sky’, the first English TV soap in India along with acting in foreign language films and television series, including ‘Valley of Flowers’ and ‘The Flag’.  In Bollywood, he played a character role in the 2016 Hindi film ‘Bajirao Mastani’ along with a popular role in the OTT series ‘Four more shots please’.

This marathon runner, who constantly amazes his social media fans, with his fitness posts and videos, is an ace swimmer as well and has won his first National Championship medal at the age of 9. When asked if he has to go back in time and recall the best and worst decisions of life, he says that “It’s all in my book Made in India, a lot about my life in sports, modelling, acting, and fitness.”

“I think my best decision was to be myself, no matter what, and I have lived by this decision since I was a child. I really can’t remember the bad decisions and I am sure they were many, but they taught me a lot, and make me the happy person that I am today,” said Milind, who has also participated as a contestant in season 3 of the reality TV show ‘Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi’.  Talking about how he is different from his younger self now, he says that he is more mindful, more patient and more appreciative of life.  “I understand myself better. I am clearer about what I want and more importantly, what I don’t want. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, except myself. I understand today that these are true parameters of fitness than biceps and six-packs. To me, these are also the parameters of success,” said Milind who is happily married to Ankita Konwar, a fitness enthusiast too.  

We often say that age is just a number and this holds right for Milind too.  In his second phase in life, he wants to do, see and experience many things in life.  “Some internal, some external, and one lifetime is not enough. It is important to prioritize things that make your life meaningful and make you feel happy about yourself, but still, keep an open mind and welcome different experiences and challenges. There is no dearth of mountains to climb, and I would like to climb them all,” he says.

Milind is  happy to see how the world has adopted a new way of leading a healthy life after COVID-19.  “One of the good things about a challenge like COVID-19 is that it shakes things up, forces us to think about what’s really important to each of us, and creates new opportunities by which we can choose to live our lives.  “Challenges always make you rethink your life and reinvent yourself. After almost a century of glorifying the rat race, it seems that people have started thinking a lot more about the value of relationships and love and health and happiness and also living more in the moment, which I think is wonderful,” sums up Milind.

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