Customer Reviews

Hemalayaa: Bollywood Burn

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I just did this workout and I must say that I sweated bullets. You can see a trailer at the acaciacatalog web site.
Setting: Theatre stage with teacher and two dancers, 1 woman and 1 guy. This time the backup dancers are quite good and look like they are enjoying the choreography.

workout: the dvd is divided into 3 workouts, each with its own warm-up, learn the steps, routine and cool down. The cool down is brief for segments 1 &2 in the event you want to do segment 3. The steps are easy and fun. BE WARNED, MANY OF THE STEPS ARE HIGH IMPACT. I have bad knees and I had to modify the criss cross jumping jacks, half jacks, hop turns and jumps. No modifications are shown on the video. However, I am aerobically out of shape and I still got my heart rate up doing low impact.

Music: This is bhangra hip hop music. The music is different for each segment. The teacher is in voice over and she is much louder than the music. There is a music only option and when you hear it without her talking, it is quite good and rhythmic.

Overall: A good workout that is edited and choreographed much better than her bollywood workout dvd. There is also a free dance special feature with the 3 dancers clowning around. Next time I do this, I will use the music only option as it is pretty easy to visually follow. the production quality is very good and the steps are in beat with the music. The camera loves Hemalayaa and she and her dancers are a joy to watch,

This might just be one of the most difficult workout DVDs I have ever done. A girl at work mentioned that she had tried it and loved it so I checked it out. She warned me that her legs were burning after she did the workout but that was the understatement of the century. About 3 minutes into this workout you already feel like your thighs are on fire. This should be called Bollywood Thighs of Steel! Don't let the fact that this is a dance video fool you. Its serious stuff! Definitely not for anyone for who has bad knees.

Part of our New Year's resolution, my honey and I, was getting back into moving and exercising more. Well, we really got into the swing with this one! The 15 minute segments make it easy to do, even when I'm feeling lazy.

It's easy to be happy with this DVD. We both worked up a sweat doing the shimmy and steppin' high with Hemalayaa. She's very upbeat and lighthearted, which kept us both engaged and relaxed. Laughing a lot makes it easier to not overfocus on our mistakes and lack of coordination.And right now, I'm pretty uncoordinated, believe me.

I had to modify some of the jumps and hops, but I've gotten used to that since I hurt my knee last year. It was great to have a man in the video and I noticed his moves were a little more subtle and solid, which gave my guy and I permission to not overdo it. But we still got a workout!

The best part? I put it on again a couple of days later and my partner got up from his desk (!) and came over on his own to hop around with me. No nagging required. Yaaayyy!!!

Definitely recommended!

This is a fun video, but it moves very fast and doesn't give you enough time to learn some of the moves. I also had a problem with the pacing -- in the middle of an intense, high-impact cardio workout you suddenly stop and do yoga, then you suddenly start dancing again. I would prefer the workout more thoughfully designed, building up to the more difficult stuff, and having the yoga be a separate workout. There is a LOT of jumping involved, which is really bad for your knees. There should be alternate moves for people who prefer not to jump. Also, the instructions are good but could use a little more attention to detail -- for example, if you are bending forward and can't see the screen, there should be a little more instruction so you know to get up and start moving again. Finally, the outfits are fun (though hardly workout clothes) but I was a little confused at all the zooming in on the butt... this is an exercise video, people, not a music video.

The first thing I notice is Hemalayaa's voice over. I wish I could say that it was likeable, but I find her style of narration rather annoying; something in her intonation and giggling rubs me the wrong way. It's not necessarily in sync with the video and doesn't cue very well; often it's not until she and the other dancers are doing the move that the narration identifies the change.

The workouts themselves are not necessarily well-paced. The workouts go from bouncy dancing to yoga, then back to bouncy dancing. This is also most assuredly NOT low-impact, so it's impossible to recommend for people with joint problems. (It doesn't purport itself to be low-impact, at least, though neither does any preview or packing information present just how non-low-impact it is.) That being said, the workouts also are rather a lot of fun, silly if not sexy, which goes a long way to redeem this particular video.

Overall, I enjoyed this video the few times I did it, but finally had to set it aside when all the hopping got to be too much for me. I can't speak for its Bollywood authenticity, but it can still be a fun addition to the library of someone with excellent knees.

Wow - this one's a keeper! When I do cardio, I prefer a higher impact workout, and this fits the bill. I did all three of the segments at once and really felt like I got a great workout, and it was so much fun! The moves aren't so complicated that you couldn't get them down after one or two tries - I'm not even that coordinated, and I was able to keep up with almost all of the moves my first time through.

The only downside is that since the workout is broken down into three 15 minute segments, you get a warm-up and cool-down with each, so it cuts down on the length of the cardio, but it's such a fun workout that I don't mind. I will definitely use this one over and over!

Hemalayaa is beautiful to watch and the workouts use a well constructed arch of warm up, burn, cool down. The first time I used this DVD I enjoyed it, broke a sweat, and definitely burned. After that the production problems of the DVD turned me off. In the first section the movements are not in time with the music, making the workout very difficult. Throughout all three sections Hemalayaa's movements are often ahead of or out of synch with her verbal instruction. Other times she is doing something entirely different than the other two people in the video. This last point is a matter of taste, but I felt a little like a vaudevillian Ali Baba during some of the choreographies, or perhaps an Arabian line dancer. The light bulb? Really? Will that give me shapely wrists, 'cause I've been worried mine aren't svelte enough! My biggest problem with this DVD is that it was horrible for my knees. I have reasonable library of DVD workouts and this is the only one that hurts to use. Not the muscle burn you want, but an actual damage to joint type pain. I stopped using it after two weeks.

Had I written this review after working out to this DVD after the first time I would have rated it as 3 stars. But I was surprised by how sore my thighs were after one workout so I went back for more.
The workout is done on a stage with pleasant colors and setup. I loved the backup dancers and to beginners I will recommend that you watch them, especially the guy. Hemalayaa can be too fast and "hoppy." But the woman and the guy keep a consistent pace that I kept up with and the best part was the backup dancers are always smiling, it seems like they are having so much fun and that made me keep at it too.
The first workout is slower paced and you really feel the burn in your thighs. But still Hemalaaya goes too fast for beginners. I did the workout with my sister and she was disappointed by how Hemalayaa just jumps into the moves - there's no explanation of what she's doing. It can be really annoying but if you just try to stick with it, after a few times it gets easier and fun.
The second workout is much faster and you get a good cardio workout. Lot of hopping and some jumping, so again I'd say take it easy if you got knee problems. I just hopped in place or just danced around the first few times until I felt stronger because I felt she was too fast And took me e few workouts before I picked up the steps. But really Hemalayaa and the back-up dancers are so beautiful. The music is catchy and has a great beat.
The only problem I had was that Hemalayaa laughs unncessarily. It drove me crazy, well it still does. Like "feeeel the stretch and think of what your butt is going to look like...hahahaha." What is funny? And then the camel toe, it is especially obvious in the beginning of the 2nd workout but it's the laugh that drives me nuts.
Anyway I recommend this workout. I walk on a rgeular basis and still my thighs got really sore. You get a good workout which combines yoga, stretching, dancing, cardio fitness all combined into one fun workout. Just have fun and dance around the first few times and you'll pick up the moves.

Another workout which goes fast and leaves you feeling healthily tired. The stretching is integrated with the moves so if you don't like Yoga or stretching, this makes you do it anyway and get the benefit. The impacts on the knee and bare feet are conscientiously minimized by Hemalayaa with admonitions.

Also, this dance tradition is more "earthy" than Western classical ballet in which the goal, noble enough in its own way, is to "leap and pause" like Baryshnikov: to leave the earth. Whereas here you start by touching the earth to ask its blessing, and the result is it doesn't hurt you. It's a mystery.

You learn great moves and gestures with which to amuse your friends notably the "lightbulb" with a really cheesey smile that makes you feel like a film poster.

Also, there's a bloke in this one which provides reassurance to blokes as to whether these are for blokes as well as the hairies, the glamouries...the ladies, that is.

Only problem at this time for me is that this is a 45 minute workout. I track workouts in integer blocks of ten minutes and wonder whether I should round up or down.

Bollywood Burn is a fun dance workout. Not too difficult to follow. You are so into the dance workout that you tend to forget that you are working out. Enjoyed it very much. Marylin of Coconut Grove, Fl.