Actor Tamannaah Bhatia has recently found herself at the centre of online discussions about her dramatic physical transformation. While some social media users speculated that the actor might have turned to weight-loss injections like Ozempic, others praised her refreshed appearance.
Addressing the ongoing chatter, Tamannaah set the record straight in a candid conversation with Harper's Bazaar India.
'This Body Is Not New To Me'
Tamannaah revealed that she has always been naturally slender, particularly in her 20s, and that her current appearance is simply a reflection of how her body has evolved.
"I have been in front of the camera since the age of 15 and people have seen me grow up in front of the camera, so there is nothing to hide. Till my late 20s I was a slender body type. That was always my body. This body in which I am right now is technically not new to me. I have grown up like this, and I have stayed like this," she said.
The actor explained that audiences who primarily followed her Hindi films may find her recent transformation surprising, as they became familiar with her during a different phase of her body journey.
"This might be new for the Hindi belt of the audience, but I am nearing 100 films. People have seen my work in so many different films and in so many different bodies," she added.
Tamannaah, who became a household name across India after her role in Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), believes that people must understand how naturally a woman's body evolves. "A woman's body is always changing and every five years we see a different version of our own self," she said.
Tamannaah On Her Covid-19 Phase
The actor admitted that she faced difficulties managing her weight during the Covid-19 pandemic, a time when she was coping with physical changes and inflammation.
"For me, Covid hit my body really hard and it became difficult to keep my body in the same weight as it was in my 20s," she confessed. "I struggled with it. I love food - I love to eat my rice, roti, dal."
Tamannaah also spoke honestly about moments of self-consciousness in front of the camera, saying, "I began to feel that I don't want to be conscious feeling a certain size and constantly trying to correct it. I was thinking, 'Oh, is my tummy outside?' Because at some point, my tummy was coming out, and I was thinking what is happening to my body."
But through that experience, she learned to embrace her body's natural shape and rhythms. "Inflammation is real. Any woman who is going through the cycle feels like her body is shifting. My curves are not going anywhere because I am Sindhi. That hip and waist is not going anywhere because that is bone structure," she said.
Tamannaah concluded by asserting her pride in her Indian identity and body type.
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