In an industry that claims to be evolving, body shaming remains a harsh and persistent reality for many women in Bollywood. From unsolicited comments to damaging comparisons, female actors continue to face intense pressure to conform to ever-changing beauty standards. Actor Ananya Panday and content creator Apoorva Arora have reignited the conversation around how deeply embedded and normalised body shaming is not only from the public but within the industry itself.
During a heartfelt conversation with Lilly Singh, Ananya Panday opened about her early experiences with body shaming, revealing how damaging and confusing it was to face such harsh scrutiny at just 18 or 19 years old.
“When I started out, I was really skinny,” Ananya shared. “People would call me chicken legs, matchstick, flat-screen TV. They said I had no tits, no ass. That’s what it was first.” She went on to explain how, as her body naturally changed with age, she was accused of undergoing cosmetic procedures. “Now people are like, ‘She definitely got her butt done,” she added. “You can never win.”
Creators can't attend Cannes, but actors' Instagram numbers affect casting
Her story resonates with many young women who feel like they’re constantly being judged, regardless of how they look. Whether too skinny or curvy, someone always has something to say and it is kind only very seldom.
In an exclusive interview with Hook, actor Apoorva Arora shared a disturbing personal story involving a fellow female actor who body-shamed her. “She told me, ‘You’ve put on some weight. When you wear crop tops, you have a little belly,” Apoorva revealed. “I said, ‘Yeah, I know’ and she cut me off: ‘No, I’ll give you this doctor’s number. You can get it fixed.”
This interaction isn’t just offensive, but also highlights a culture where surgically altering one’s body is presented as a casual solution to natural variation. Even worse, this toxic mindset is often perpetuated by women within the industry, showing how deeply these beauty norms have been internalised.
What makes body shaming so insidious is that it rarely comes from one direction. Actors are scrutinised by audiences, media, brands, and even their peers. Social media has only amplified this, making unsolicited comments and comparisons more frequent and accessible.
Women in the industry are expected to be aspirational but not too different. They're applauded for their beauty but torn down for any deviation from a manufactured ideal. It’s an exhausting double standard that leaves no room for natural growth, fluctuation, or simply being human.
Apoorva Arora opens up on stereotypes about women and sexism on-set
The stories shared by Ananya and Apoorva serve as urgent reminders of the work still needed to dismantle harmful beauty expectations in the entertainment industry. It’s time to normalize diverse bodies, aging, and evolution and to replace cruel criticism with compassion and respect.
In a culture obsessed with perfection, the real rebellion is authenticity. And it's high time we let women in the spotlight simply be themselves without commentary.
