Recently, Tamannaah Bhatia opened up about how she was affected by unrealistic beauty standards for women in the past. She also recalled an instance when a fan had called her 'big and fat.'
Tamannaah Bhatia started her acting journey in the Hindi film industry with Chand Sa Roshan Chehra, but it was in the South that she truly gained renown. Her career breakthrough came with the Telugu film, Happy Days, and the Tamil film, Kalloori, cementing her status as a leading actress in the South. And now, she is building a stronger presence in the Hindi industry as well. The actress, who is busy with the promotions of her latest project, Sikandar Ka Muqaddar, got candid about the unrealistic beauty standards for women and how they affected her.
Actress, Tamannaah Bhatia is currently basking in the overwhelmingly positive response for her latest project, Neeraj Pandey's heist thriller, Sikandar Ka Muqaddar, has been receiving. During the promotions for the same, the actress had an opportunity to discuss the unrealistic beauty standards for women.
The actress confessed to growing up with the skewed perception that 'being fit' meant 'being skinny.' She also revealed that it was during her performance in Aaj Ki Raat from the 2024 release, Stree 2, that she finally accepted her body. Tamannaah told Instant Bollywood:
"I grew up myself on the idea of unrealistic beauty standards for women. So I had that kind of a childhood and upbringing where I felt being skinny was being fit. Growing up while being a part of the movies, I put a lot of pressure on myself to look a certain way. There came a time when I figured it only served a certain utility, but it didn't actually make me feel beautiful. Times that I actually started to feel good about myself had rarely anything to do with how thin I was. I somewhere feel like maybe Aaj Ki Raat helped me accept my body."
During the conversation, Tamannaah Bhatia also recalled the time she was approached by a fan after her song, Kaavaalaa (Jailer song) released. The fan thanked Tamannaah for breaking beauty standards with her performance and making 'curvy women feel accepted.'
The fan also called Tamannaah 'big and fat,' and the actress confessed that it had taken her a minute to process what had been said. Tamannaah narrated:
"When Kawala came out, one lady walk up to me at a party and said, 'Thank you! Because of you, us curvy women feel accepted. You were so big and fat and yet you were enjoying.' For the first time I registered that according to this lady, I was fat. I didn't completely understand that till I didn't hear it from a person."
Tamannaah stated that she hadn't put so much thought into the performance, merely seeing it as 'beautiful.' However, that moment with the fan made her realise that unrealistic beauty standards had now extended beyond the acting industry to every young girl out there. Tamannaah said:
"I thought it was normal. I thought that was beautiful. That was my understanding. But I understand that today everyone has a phone, everyone has a camera, everyone is posting pictures on Instagram. So, everyone has this pressure. Early on, I was an actor it was a part of my job. I had to look at my body. But today every young girl is doing that."
Tamannaah Bhatia further opened up about her goal to use her current power and agency to emphasize that beauty isn't governed by how thin or fair one is. On that note, she recalled a time when she had been decked from head to toe only to end up hating herself because she was uncomfortable and couldn't breathe.
Tamannaah stated that on that day, she didn't feel beautiful at all. However, there were days when she hadn't even done her hair or makeup, yet she felt gorgeous. The actress then re-emphasised that beauty had nothing to do with the established standards.
What do you think about Tamannaah Bhatia's thoughts on unrealistic beauty standards?
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