I couldn't find a forum search function, so sorry if there is already a thread on this... Has anyone tried the Masala Bhangra DVDs? Or have any recommendations for other Bhangra/Bollywood dance-based fitness DVDS? I get bored fairly easily with traditional aerobics and generic dance-remix music, and Indian dance looks so fun (at least based on my viewings of Bend It Like Beckham/The Guru/Bride and Prejudice and the odd Bollywood movie) and I love Bhangra music, so I thought it would be a good way to have a more fun workout. I am not the most coordinated person, so I imagine there will be a bit of a learning curve...

Has anyone tried the Sarina Jain Masala Bhangra workouts? Any other Indian-flavored workout DVDs? (I've also looked at Hemalayaa and Honey Kalaria.) This is a pretty low-risk trial for me since I am just getting it through Netflix as a test run, but in the interest of time/saving frustration was wondering if anyone has tried these or similar DVDs and if so, your experiences and how they all compare if you've tried a couple. What do you like/not like? What would you say the level is (beginner, intermediate, advanced)? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I had one by Sarina, but for whatever reason it didn't really click for me.

Surprisingly, I REALLY liked the one by Yoga Booty Ballet. It's one of the 'live' ones. I hated all of the YBB's except the Bhangra one. It's lots of fun, and I was able to follow along.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

I've never done one of Sarina's actual videos, but she did one of the hour-long guest spots on All Star Workouts on FitTV that runs as a repeat all the time. Once I cut the commercials, it was fun and the atmosphere of celebration always puts me in a good, energetic mood. I personally felt there was not enough stretching after the workout, and I found it a little bit repetitive -- she goes back to the "basic" shoulder-buster move all the time. Someone on VideoFitness suggested getting around this by just continuing to repeat the new move instead of going back to the basic move every time. All in all, my opinion is that I had a good time for something that was free taped off TV (and probably you'll enjoy to Netflix once), but I don't know that I would be willing to pay to own a Masala Bhangra DVD.

Geri

You pretty much described the dvd...lots of TIFFT'ing...

I got "The Bollywood Dance Workout' with Hemalayaa today from NetFlix but have not tried it yet. I watched a preview of it on a website and it looked pretty fun.

Has anyone done this one and what did you think of it?

I am interested if there are any good Bollywood workout dvds out there as well. I have taken some *similar* live classes before-a class in Classical Indian Dance (from a local Indian woman) and a class in Bollywood (from Samantha Riggs, one of the stars of Boom Boom Bollywood).

I really enjoyed both classes, but I have yet to find a dvd that I like yet.

I did end up getting this one, and her dance of the Kama Sutra dvds-so far I like them both. The Bollywood one is really nice, because they are doing actual Bollywood movements and using Bollywood music. I don't like it when you buy a belly dance video-and they are fusing it with hip hop or whatever (like Rania videos) and don't use belly dance music.