Prashant Sawant is a known name in Bollywood. No! He isn’t any
established (=already in use or existing for a long period of time) star or an upcoming newcomer to
watch out for (=to pay close attention in a particular situation because you are expecting something to happen). The man is a personal trainer, who is best known in the film industry for having trained none other than the
badshah (=Hindi/Urdu word for king) of bollywood, the king Khan
himself, Shah Rukh Khan. But this time he is in the news for
not so good reasons. The trainer, whom the local
Greek God Hrithik Roshan had been eager to sign, has been dropped by the the superstar after just
a day’s work.
Hrithik had heard a lot about the work of Prashant as a trainer. But after hiring him, he was not satisfied by the training that he got. And after just a day’s work with him, the megastar told him that his style of training wasn’t going well enough. But
birdies in Bollywood are citing more than just this as a reason why Prashant was dropped by Hrithik like a
hot potato. The reason being cited, is that Prashant tried to cash in on
his new found fame, by using Hrithik and Suzanne’s (=Suzanne is Hrithik's wife) name.
The trainer apparently said in a TV interview, that he had trained not just Hrithik, but his wife as well. Not just that, he claimed that he had got good feedback from them too. And after this, Hrithik called him up and asked him about why he had used his wife’s name in the interview.
Even as Prashant apologised, it was too late for Prashant. Hrithik was
done (=finished) with him.
Hrithik is popular for the fact that no matter how busy he is, he makes sure that he
pumps iron (=exercise) at least an hour a day. The actor has been appreciated by many in the film industry, as the one who gives not a hundred, but a three hundred percent to whatever he does, in order to get it right. And he had to lose a lot of muscle in order to get the schoolboy image right, in the blockbuster hit Koi Mil Gaya. And all eyes are now set on his look in the Ashutosh Gowariker’s next, opposite Aishwarya Rai, Jodha Akbar.
Questions:
1: I couldn't understand the function of ''himself''. It makes perfect sense without the ''himself''.
2: Can ''no'' be used instead of ''not''?
3: What does ''Greek God'' mean?
4: Does ''a day's work'' mean ''one day's work?
5: What does ''birdies'' mean?
6: What does ''hot potato'' mean?
7: What does the author by saying ''his new found fame''? Is he referring to the fact that training Hrithik contributed to the fame of Prashant?
8: I don't see any need of using ''as'' in the expression ''even as''.