{"id":2225,"date":"2016-06-27T11:21:23","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T05:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/womens-day-body-shaming-bollywood\/"},"modified":"2016-06-27T11:21:23","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T05:51:23","slug":"womens-day-body-shaming-bollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2225","title":{"rendered":"The Fault in Our Bollywood Bodies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\nO<\/span>\n\n<\/div>\nne of the first few points of discussion around Sridevi<\/span><\/a>, is the issue of <\/span>body image<\/span><\/a> and beauty. It feels a bit unfair to take apart and scrutinise the specifics of her personal life and choices, especially since her life and work brought us so much joy. But in this noise, one aspect has gone completely unexamined here \u2013 how women\u2019s bodies in real life and those in <\/span>Bollywood<\/span><\/a> are connected.<\/span>\n\nActors from the South of India, who made their entry in Hindi cinema as dancers are women we have grown up watching. We\u2019ve admired Vyjayanthimala\u2019s voluptuous dancer\u2019s body, Hema Malini\u2019s curvy hips, and <\/span>Sridevi\u2019s love handles<\/span><\/a> on multiple Sunday reruns on TV. Then there is Rekha\u2019s earlier plump avatar and <\/span>Vidya Balan\u2019s<\/span><\/a> revolutionary stomach folds in <\/span>Dirty Picture<\/span><\/i> to her perfectly rounded \u201chomely\u201d body in <\/span>Tumhari Sulu<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span>\n\nThere is Madhuri too, who made us feel good about having ample breasts and a round derri\u00e8re (although didi\u2019s extra AF deewana devars can keep their <\/span>hands to themselves<\/span><\/a>). We also had Tabu singing \u201cRuk Ruk Ruk\u201d in those high-waisted jeans and tucked-in T-shirt. Kajol and Rani Mukherjee reigned in our adolescence and we, as teenagers in the <\/span>nutty \u201990s<\/span><\/a>, did our own version of \u201cMere khwabon mein jo aaye\u201d with towels clumsily wrapped around us. <\/span>\n\nWe could be them\u2026 because they could be us. <\/span>\n

We would shamelessly imitate the designs of their blouses and salwar kameez in our own lives, with a wedding or a Durga Pujo pandal to attend.<\/blockquote>\nTheir bodies were real and fantastic at the same time. They had what you would now perhaps mockingly call an \u201cIndian\u201d body \u2013 a body that is not ashamed of being whole, full, and jutting out in parts. For today\u2019s times, this body might not be \u201cmodern\u201d enough, but we were okay with our leading ladies being \u201con the healthier side\u201d and having realistic bodies. If anything, it only made them sexier and more relatable in our eyes. <\/span>\n\nThey looked beautiful in their chiffon saris, filling out their backless cholis and tight-fitting salwar kameezes and gauzy gowns, even stodgy cardigans. We would shamelessly imitate the designs of their blouses and salwar kameez in our own lives, with a <\/span>wedding<\/span><\/a> or a <\/span>Durga Pujo<\/span><\/a> pandal to attend. When Madhuri wore chiffon dupattas and outfits in <\/span>Dil Toh Pagal Hai<\/span><\/i><\/a>, we would ask the tailor to copy the same designs. And we knew we would look good too, because just like them, we had curves and folds and handles and were \u201cpleasantly plump\u201d enough to carry off the said clothes.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nWhat we did not anticipate is that, by the end of the \u201990s, the acceptable size and shape of the body of women in cinema would also undergo a massive change. Did it start with Urmila\u2019s new sexy avatar in <\/span>Rangeela<\/span><\/i> or with Karisma Kapoor\u2019s sculpted look and gorgeous <\/span>gym<\/span><\/a> clothes in <\/span>Dil Toh Pagal Hai<\/span><\/i>? <\/span>\n\nI loved Karisma in that film \u2013 she was fiercely talented, competitive, and not afraid to tell the hero how she felt, even at the cost of humiliation and rejection.\u00a0But she was the antithesis of the heroine, Maya (Madhuri Dixit). Maya was traditional, and in hindsight, a bit too nice and boring. But we lapped it all up as heteronormative #goals as our hormones raged and we sought attention from our local heartthrobs. <\/span>\n\nThen came the other Kapoor sister, who only added to our misery \u2013 Ms <\/span>Kareena <\/span><\/a>was perfectly healthy and normal-sized in her first film <\/span>Refugee<\/span><\/i>. But come <\/span>Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,<\/span><\/i> she resorted to make us all feel like unfit, unlovable bodies with her character Poo. By the time <\/span>Tashan <\/span><\/i>rolled around, zero was both the size of her waist and our collective morale.<\/span>\n\nOr was it the entrance of models, which changed the shape of our heroines? <\/span>Aishwarya Rai<\/span><\/a>, Sushmita Sen, Priyanka Chopra and Bipasha Basu brought in a different body aesthetic to the screen. Shilpa Shetty has become a yoga guru and Katrina Kaif gives today\u2019s actors their body goals. Even our beloved, relatable Kajol looks nothing like her previous self. With the clubbing of the fashion industry with Bollywood, our actresses not only act on the big screen, but have to constantly look good on TV appearances, on fashion show ramps, in advertisements and in social media with those perfect gym <\/span>selfies<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\n\nThe advent of social media and the Internet did something else too \u2013 it gave us other influences and a platform to discuss and critique the very things, which made us insecure. It brought in other stories \u2013 alternative images of women and perhaps a more open discussion about the choices of fitting in versus being okay with one\u2019s body. So for every perfectly photo-shopped star\u2019s Instagram, we also had access to a <\/span>Harnaam Kaur<\/span><\/a> who did not shy away from reclaiming her facial hair. <\/span>\n\nNot only were regular people challenging body norms but older, inaccessible art began to resurface. Lisa Steele\u2019s <\/span>\u201cBirthday Suit\u201d<\/span><\/a>, for instance, is an example of video art (1974) in which the artist strips naked and shows all the scars and imperfections of her body, along with a commentary on how she received each scar. Women were sharing, talking, discussing and letting each other know that we were okay, the way we were. <\/span>\n\nBut despite these other influences, Bollywood still looms large over the Indian psyche. <\/span>\n\nTo younger women today, Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, and <\/span>Anushka Sharma <\/span><\/a>have become new icons. They want to wear designer outfits that Sonam has flaunted at Cannes, what Deepika\u2019s character wore in <\/span>Cocktail <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> Tamasha<\/span><\/i><\/a>, and Anushka\u2019s wedding outfits. What happens to that part of the audience still figuring out their ideal body type when they look at the hype around these perfectly crafted bodies? \u00a0<\/span>\n\nCashing in on their large fan base, these three icons have started their own fashion labels: All About You, Rheson, and Nush. In a mission statement that couldn\u2019t be more tone deaf, All About You flaunts manufactured feminism: \u201c<\/span>You are your biggest strength and can conquer anything when you are with you.\u201d <\/span>\n\nThree you-s in one sentence? <\/span>Naah. Not for me. <\/span>\n\nBuying clothes from fancy fashion labels doesn\u2019t really fit my pocket. And maybe I won\u2019t go to the local darzi to stitch Bollywood-inspired clothes anytime soon. After all, my round body has no mirror there anymore. <\/span>\n\nInstead, I\u2019ll watch another song with Sridevi in it and feel good about a time when it was okay to have a body without sharp edges.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in the \u201990s, Bollywood actresses had bodies that were whole, full, and jutting out in parts. At that time, we could be them and they could be us. But the perfectly crafted bodies of younger actresses have stripped us of that joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[3552,4476,4477,141,4478,4479,4480,4481,4482,710,2402,2596,735],"class_list":["post-2225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gender","tag-art","tag-attires","tag-bodies","tag-bollywood","tag-cliches","tag-curves","tag-dance","tag-dance-numbers","tag-dress","tag-feminism","tag-men","tag-sexism","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Fault in Our Bollywood Bodies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Back in the \u201990s, Bollywood actresses had bodies that were whole, full, and jutting out in parts. 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But the perfectly crafted bodies of younger actresses have stripped us of that joy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2225\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-27T05:51:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pooja Das\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The Fault in Our Bollywood Bodies\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Back in the \u201990s, Bollywood actresses had bodies that were whole, full, and jutting out in parts. At that time, we could be them and they could be us. 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