Actor Vidya Balan has been quite vocal about body positivity. But it took a long time for the actor to reach the stage of accepting and appreciating her body. In a recent interview with Luke Coutinho on his YouTube channel, Vidya candidly discussed body image issues she suffered as a child. The actor shared how her mother’s concerns about her weight led to early dieting and exercise regimes that deeply impacted her relationship with her body.
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Speaking about how her mother put her on a diet early on, Vidya said, “My mother had this fear that I was a chubby girl. So she was constantly doing things to make me lose weight because she grew up a big girl. She was scared about the fact that I would be judged like her. Parents are always worried for their children and I see that today. I used to be very angry with my mother, ‘Why does she make me go through the exercise regime? Why is she making me diet so early?’ Maybe it’s because she was worried for me. I grew up hating my body. I had developed hormonal issues very early on in my life because it was the rejection of the body.”
‘ I don’t have the quintessential heroine body’
The journey to self-acceptance wasn’t easy, and Vidya acknowledged the effort it took to get to where she is today. She said, “It’s taken me a lot of work to reach this stage. People always come and tell me, ‘You must not be exercising.’ And only if they knew that I love exercise and I am consistent at it because I love it. But for whatever reason, I don’t have the quintessential heroine body, I have not been able to figure that out. I have been through a time where I have put in all the effort and I have not seen the result. The journey of acceptance started around the time I was maybe 30-31 and it’s only been getting better.”
On the professional front, Vidya Balan recently portrayed the role of CBI officer Mira Rao in Neeyat, a film that faced box-office failure and critical backlash. She is set to appear in director Shirsha Guha Thakurta’s upcoming film, Lovers, alongside Sendhil Ramamurthy, Ileana D’Cruz and Pratik Gandhi in key roles.
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