It’s a Deeply Ingrained Scar: Ileana D'Cruz About Body Shaming

Ileana said she has been facing body shaming since she was 12

Actor Ileana D'Cruz

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

Ileana D'Cruz opened up about facing body shaming and sexism that she has been facing since she was 12. She talked about the 'weird comments' people pass and the strength it takes to disregard them.

"I remember those days like it was yesterday. It’s weird because it’s a very deeply ingrained scar. I went through body-shaming right from the time I was 12. I had just hit puberty and growing up. You are hit with these weird comments," she said in an interview with Bollywood Bubble.

She marked her feature film debut with the Telugu film Devadasu directed by Y. V. S. Chowdhary. She made her Bollywood debut as the character of Shruti Ghosh with Anurag Basu's Barfi!, and went on to star in films like Rustom, Baadshaho, and Raid. D'Cruz was last seen in Abhishek Bachchan starrer The Big Bull and is set to appear in Balwinder Singh Janjua directorial Unfair & Lovely. The latter is a social commentary on India's obsession with fair skin.

Talking about the importance of self love, she further said in the interview, "You think you are fine and then suddenly you have random people saying things about you and you start to believe what they are saying. So I think it’s a deeply ingrained scar because you are carrying it for so many years. It takes a lot of inner strength to tell yourself that what they are saying doesn’t matter. What your feel about yourself is most important. And it’s something I tell myself every single day."

She added that people still body shame her but she has grown to accept herself and not listen to what other people have to say, but it is still a work in progress. Ever since she first talked about her body image issues in 2017, she's often shared updates from her journey.

In an earlier interview with Hindustan Times, the actor revealed, "When you embrace every bit of you as an entire whole that somehow makes you so much stronger and makes you so much more beautiful,” after talking about how difficult body issues can be.