Richa Chadha's confession of Bollywood's sick culture of body shaming is heartening

"I was told I should gain weight, then lose weight, fix my nose and inflate my lips, get a b**b job, lose the puppy fat, grow my hair out, or cut it, get highlights, or fake eyelash extensions, squat for a bigger booty, get fake gel nails, run in heels, wear spanx, pout while talking, focus on dilating the pupils, and listen attentively."

So Richa Chadha has spoken about Bollywood’s worst kept secret. Or is it even a secret? Chadha has come clean on the industry’s obsession with appearances, its long, ridiculous list of expectations from its female actors.

Also read: Ugly truths behind looking good in the entertainment industry

It seems actors, first, have to tick all the boxes in the physical appearance category, with thespian skills, being the last requirement.

Chadha’s confession or revelation, whichever way you look at it, comes at an opportune time. More and more of her peers are taking to social media targeting body shamers. Zarine Khan, Bhumi Pednekar, Huma Qureshi, Sonakshi Sinha are just a few of the actresses who have spoken on the topic but what Chadha has done is pluckier.

Also read: 3 reasons why we love the new fit Parineeti Chopra

She has come clean on battling with the big B – bulimia. It’s an actress opening up her scars to the world, showcasing her vulnerabilities, struggles and insecurities. This is akin to Deepika Padukone openly discussing her fraught battle with depression at the peak of her career.

Chadha says:

"Anyone know what that is? It’s when you consistently hate what you look like, and compulsively induce vomiting, throw up all the food you eat, accompanied often by binge eating, general anxiety and sadness and believing basically that you are unworthy. What are the implications of it? You become drastically unhealthy, low on nutrition, with lack of sleep and basically overtime have little zest for anything at all. I hated myself, gained weight in a strange way and felt like a failure."

This is the new-age Bollywood, quite different to the one when actresses like Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi and Juhi Chawla dominated the big screen, often outshining their male co-stars. These women were proud of their curves, which to a degree, even helped them garner quite a following. Look at Sridevi in ChaalBaaz, Juhi Chawla in Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke or Raveena Tandon in Mohra. Size zero wasn clearly not the number one priority back then.

Chadha, who was invited to give a talk at TEDxDTU, also spoke about how the various "fix-ups" she was told to get made her insecure about her looks.

She says: 

"Till I lived in Delhi, with my parents, I always felt beautiful and intelligent. It was only when I became an actor that I felt my confidence evaporate. Self-doubt exists in everyone’s minds. But I do feel actors have it a lot worse. We deal with rejection on many levels on a daily basis. While we deal with civilian (yes, thats what I call people that don’t work in showbiz), issues, we also have to listen to in my cheeky humble opinion people that aren’t so blessed themselves tell you that YOU are very unsuitable looking... I crumbled under the pressure like a wrecking ball had hit me."

Parineeti Chopra had to face so many comments about her weight and the clothes she wore that finally, facing a year with no work, she had no option but to spend the time to lose weight.

The industry congratulated her new "sexier" avatar by putting her on the cover of glossies, carrying countless interviews on her fitness regime and diet, and even giving her a style award. Yes, because she could finally wear fashionable clothes that she couldn’t fit into earlier.

"It was the desire in me to look cool and wear better clothes, which led me to get up and start working on my physique," said Chopra in an interview to a leading daily. "But now, I am more conscious about my meals and I don’t eat anything after 8pm. I also make it a point to remind myself that whatever food I put in my mouth is healthy and keep it light during the night."

Why are we so hell-bent on attacking our actresses for their size? When will Bollywood get its version of Melissa McCarthy, an actress whose comic timing is so terrific, and who uses her physique to such an advantage, that viewers don’t care much about her appearance?

Will we ever give Vidya Balan, who refuses to adhere to industry’s norms of beauty, a break for her own figure? Will others follow Richa Chadha's example and speak up or just sit quiet and accept the current system? After all a heroine is reminded time and again that her shelf life is shorter too.