Shah Rukh Khan's race against time

Shah Rukh Khan had torn a muscle on his left shoulder for which he had to be operated and his arm was bound to a sling with doctors advising him not to exert any pressure on it till he gets completely fit.

But we has learnt that the actor will be pushing his body to the hilt for an entire year to maintain his eight-pack abs to shoot two back to back films -- Farah Khan's Happy New Year and Ra.1, a sci-fi thriller in which he plays a superhero, thereby testing the strength of his already weak shoulders. Farah's film starts end of this year. SRK still needs at least two months to be fit which means he won't be having enough time to relax and build his body. It is certainly a race against time that SRK will get into.

"Both the films are going to be physically very taxing for Shah Rukh as he will have to pull off something more than what he did for Om Shanti Om for which he had developed a six-pack. SRK needs to work out for around 2-3 hours every single day to get his body back as post the surgery he hasn't been able to do those muscle strenuous exercise routines. He has to get his abs back, his shoulders pumped up and work out on every part of his body," says an industry source.

"For all this naturally he needs to lift heavy weights too and that means SRK will be directly exerting his shoulder that has been operated on. There are other exercises too like heavy chins ups and push ups which will also stress his shoulders."

Admits Farah Khan, "Yes, it is a very physically challenging film for which Shah Rukh will have to work out a lot and his body has to endure a lot."

However, when DNA contacted Dr Ali Irani who has been attending to the star, he says it could be detrimental for him. "As of today, Shah Rukh is not fit to do strenuous exercises. He had a half tear which meant that he could do all the exercises but then he injured himself again and had a full tear on his shoulder which needed to be operated. He needs to relax."

He adds, "He has started working with resistance bands (like Thera-Band) and there are different levels to it. As of now, he needs to clear a couple of resistance levels to prove that he is fully fit. This will at least take two months time if not more. In case he isn't fit, he shouldn't push himself. His shoulder is weak and he needs to be declared completely fit before he can start those hard exercises."