MissMalini reader Mocha sent in this question for our Industrywala: Are actresses under pressure to have plastic surgery in Bollywood? Do they ever feel discriminated during screen tests if they don’t look a certain way or a certain size?
Industrywalla: Interesting question. The biggest production house in the country Yash Raj Films has explicit terms and conditions in their contracts with their heroines about the exact weight and BMI (body mass index) they need to have once they sign on their film. The contract has a clause that gets the heroines word on ensuring that she in a specific size as most of their films have had the girls wearing a bikini or a two piece for a certain sequence or a song. Be it Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor or Deepika Padukone, all the girls have to adhere to these particular specifications.
As you recall Aishwarya Rai Bachchan faced a whole lot of backlash for retaining her baby weight well after Aaradhya Bachchan was born. We only recently spotted her looking somewhat back to her original size!
In fact Kareena made no bones about it when prepping for her item song in Heroine. She even said, “I wanted this body for my item song. Since it is rigorous and raunchy. I decided to go for slip and sexy but I still have curves in the right places. It may be a trend now with some actresses, but I definitely don’t want to look plump or fat! Being fat is not sexy! Anyone who says that is talking crap.”
Since the costumes are made to fit, they don’t want to waste money and time redoing the ensembles god forbid any of these girls don’t go easy on that cheesecake and put on some weight!
As far as pressure to have surgery is concerned, many leading actresses have gone under the knife. Some in a big way, some with minor touch ups. I feel with time the industry too is opening up and accepting the fact that it is OK to consult a surgeon or get professional help if you want to look in a specific way or get rid of any faults.
There is a huge competition on a daily basis between the girls to constantly look good and get clicked in the right angles. With this mounting pressure, some adhere to the fear of not looking good while others like Kajol make peace with what God has given them!
Psst! Need some help thinking of Bollywood’s biggest controversies and unanswered questions? There’s a LONG list here.