Get Real! Of course Neha Dhupia and other Bollywood stars will get trolled for any physical changes
Gaining weight during pregnancy isn’t the biggest surprise on earth. Neither are sardonic comments on a woman’s looks after she puts on weight during motherhood.
A few days ago, the focus was on Neha Dhupia, former model-turned-actress, who became the proud mother of a baby girl.
A repulsive headline on a portal shrieked, ‘Neha Dhupia Shocking Weight Gain Post Pregnancy....’ The journalist responsible for that headline needs to be condemned for two things outright.
One — cheap sensationalism. Two — bad grammar.
The actress was also trolled, which comes as hardly surprising news anymore since many social media vagrants prey on vulnerable individuals for fun. What was a pastime earlier is now a full-time addiction.
Dhupia is not a major star, whom the paparazzi pursue constantly for exclusive candid photographs. But she is an actress with a track record of catwalking in major fashion shows et al. So, the story about her weight gain promised additional readership for the portal — not a miscalculation, considering the frenzied reaction to it.
This is not the first time that pregnancy has resulted in the denigration of a female star. Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, whose gorgeous looks found her fans worldwide, was suddenly under the scanner for putting on ‘oodles of weight’ during pregnancy. Even tennis star Sania Mirza, who became immensely popular also because of her looks alongside her massive talent, wasn’t spared during the same phase.
It's important to note though; Mirza needn’t have been particularly good-looking in order to become a successful sportsperson. But the same logic cannot be applied to conventional stars of commercial cinema, who must have charm, looks and screen presence to make the average viewer gravitate to their movies in the theatres.
Why is this so important?
The typical sucker for Hindi commercial cinema wants to see ‘beautiful people’ on the big screen.
The modern-day star is often that person — whose acting skills, quite honestly, are far less relevant than his/her overall physical appearance.
Watching a commercial film is about indulging in the unreal. That’s why the star cannot afford to resemble that ordinary human being with a moderate personality whom his/her fan comes across in the neighbourhood or at work every day.
Even if s/he actually sits a few feet away from a lucky fan in real life, a star must come across as a celluloid cut-out, with extraordinary charisma and perfect allure, to make an awe-inducing impact.
In the past, a Dev Anand or a Madhubala didn’t need to hit the gym to make physically powerful statements on the big screen — an inborn charm formed the basis of their popular appeal. 'Dev sahab' had a lively body language, an all-conquering smile and a unique style of dialogue delivery. Madhubala’s lovely eyes, her infectious smile and fluid facial expressions defined the essence of her attractiveness.
However, times have changed. So have audience expectations — and the character of commercial cinema in general.
The camera captures the star's body in far greater detail than ever before. That is why an ordinary actor such as Tiger Shroff, whose close-to-perfect physique is the outcome of spending hours in the gym, has found stardom. Far more accomplished than Shroff, Kareena Kapoor hit the 'size zero' button, which her fans adored, while others argued she was unspectacularly thin.
The article on Dhupia’s weight gain is the product of the journalist's awareness that the news of her recently acquired ‘imperfections’ has an inexplicable shock value. Such news always does.
Dhupia suddenly comes across as somewhat plump, which might have startled many who are used to seeing her shapely figure in photographs and on screen. The fact that she has attained motherhood could have dawned on them later.
Among such 'fans' were trolls, those incorrigible good-for-nothings who misuse their social media handles to heap trash on unsuspecting people. They would have run their fingers across their keyboards, spewing garbage about Dhupia now.
History is bound to repeat itself when other female stars have figure-altering experiences due to pregnancy, etc. A section of the media that desperately seeks eyeballs, and trolls, who have bizarre notions of merrymaking, will go after them whenever any such news comes their way.
In an ideal world, no journalist would have described a pregnant star’s weight gain as ‘shocking' — in the real world that we live in, s/he can lower the bar of tasteless commentary to attract traffic to their website. Perhaps the real shocker would be if no one was particularly shocked and the 'news' made no news.
But that isn't the story.