At close to 90 kilos, Bhumi Pednekar was as unconventional as it can get for an actress making her debut as the lead heroine in a commercial Bollywood film. Dum Laga Ke Haisha broke a few stereotypes and then some more. On International Women’s Day, Bhumi Pednekar bares her heart out to The Quint on body type issues and concludes that, size does not matter:
Dear Women Who Are Overweight, Underweight & Who Think They Are Perfect (Is There Anyone Like That?),
When you are in school or college, during teenage years, you gothrough a lot of emotions. I would be lying if I said the peer pressure to looka certain way didn’t affect me at all. There were days I felt low when I wasteased for my weight. Even as siblings when we would fight, there were times myyounger sister would pick on my weight, I would pick on something else abouther.
Self Confidence
The only thing that kept me sane and going was that everytime I went back home, I was always told that you are very beautiful. If your family supports you and accepts you for what you are, it bringsa lot of confidence in the child. My parents never made my weight an issue.They were never embarrassed of my weight. They treated me with a lot of loveand respect and didn’t care about how I looked, what I wore, what height orweight I was. It helped me grow into a mature and confident person. Because Iwent through teasing and peer pressure in school, I can empathize with thepressures that girls with a large frame may go through.
My parents would only tell me to be healthy and active. Ihave been physically active but I eat at much as I want. Every time I wasdisheartened or upset, all I needed was a chat with my parents and I would behappy.
My request to parents is to accept your child for what theyare. The years when they are growing up; are the years when their confidencecan be built or destroyed.
My weight was never a hurdle for me. Therefore I always hadthe confidence to wear what I want. As far as the weight doesn’t turn into ahealth risk, be comfortable in it. Even when I was plus size, I wore the clothes Iwanted to – be it a dress or a short skirt. That’s how I dress. I was neverconscious about my hands or legs.
Male Attention
Sometimes women think, if I am fat, I may not get a handsomeguy. Some may think they don’t deserve better. As an overweight girl you can be low on confidence and wonder if you would ever get the man of youdreams. There is a line in Dum Laga Ke Haisha, I truly believe in: “Wajanghatane se kuch nahi hoga, tumse jise pyaar karna hoga woh tumhare liye hitumse pyaar karega” (Losing weight won’t change anything. If someone has tofall in love with you, he/she will fall in love with you for who you are).
This is very true. I grew up in Mumbai and have had mycrushes. My weight never stopped me from thinking I couldn’t have a certain guy.Weight was never the barrier in my life. If I felt, it could be a concern, Ifigured this man isn’t worth it. Why be with a guy whose only worry is, how youlook physically? If you don’t value yourself no one will value you. I feel acertain beauty or confidence about myself and that perhaps reflects on my face. Itcould also be how you carry yourself or the comfort you feel when you arearound people. You shouldn’t be socially awkward because you are a certain bodytype. Why give anyone else that sort of right over your life. If a guy is onlyinterested in you because of your physical appearance, there’s something wrongwith him and he wouldn’t be mature enough to handle a relationship forstarters. A lot goes into having a happy life/relationship. And your looksshould be the last thing.
I hope there aren’t a lot of women who feel their looks maydetermine how well they do in their work. The only thing that should judge yourability is how hard you work and what results you get. Your personality makesyou attractive, so does your talent. Concentrate on those things and yourattributes. The day you are independent, the day you stop caring about other’sopinion about you, the day you are content and happy with whatever unit you area part of, someone else’s opinion wont matter.
On Being An Actress
When I played Sandhya, I am sure people around me would havewondered why I gained so much weight. I also went through a process. I didn’tcare, because my eyes were on the bigger picture. I knew that this film would have an impact on society, on people around.
This is a career I have chosen. I am an actor. It’s my job totransform as and when a script demands. And my weight loss wasn’t a deliberateattempt to fit into what’s happening around me. It was for health reasons. Iwas touching 90 kilos. It started affecting my health and I had to take controlof it. I have had back trouble for a while and I need to stay healthy. I amnot a size zero actor. I am size 10 or 12, like any other regular Indian girl. Peoplewho say I have broken a stereotype and expect me to remain a certain weight aretrying to stereotype me. Don’t you think?
Love & Best Wishes,
Bhumi Pednekar
(As told to Priyanka Jain)
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