Vidya Balan has always been a vocal advocate of body positivity. She is unafraid of speaking her mind, often weighing in on the beauty standards in the film industry. Recently, the 46-year-old recalled the time when she was asked to shed weight for her 2009 film Kismat Konnection.
Vidya Balan, in a conversation with Filmfare, revealed, “There was this chatter that you have to look young if you want to work with some of the actors. I remember before I did Kismat Konnection, someone called me and said Shahid is two years younger than you. And you are being cast opposite him. Therefore, you have to shed weight and make sure you look even younger than him. Till 2019, every film came with a side note of, ‘Can you shed some weight?'.”
The actress, who was last seen in the 2024 film Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, added that the constant negative remarks took a toll on her mental and physical health. She said, “There was a phase where I was training like crazy, barely eating. I had chronic body pain and swelling but I kept going.”
Vidya Balan added that even her trainer could not explain what was going on in her body, which later turned out to be a hormonal issue.
Eventually, Vidya Balan came with a stern response to the body-shaming. She used to tell them, “If you want someone else's body type, cast them. If you want me, take me as I am.
”Previously, Vidya Balan talked about how she turned a deaf ear to naysayers giving her weight loss “gyan”.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor shared, “I think I'm shamelessly optimistic. I've so much self-belief. I've put myself out there at my biggest and not batted an eyelid. I've had people tell me I should work on myself, that I should shed weight. But I actually believe there's nothing wrong with me." Read all about it here.
Workwise, Vidya Balan is currently seen in the Marathi television series, Kamali.
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