Richa Chadha is a prominent name in parallel Indian cinema. She is praised for picking roles that portray strong women, an aura that extends to her offscreen presence.
Richa Chadha has long defied conventional standards of beauty and has often been the target of body-shaming. The actor addressed the issue in a video she posted on Instagram. Assuming that ‘love is the absence of judgement”, we’re most unloved by self”, Richa wrote.
“It’s never easy being in front of the camera”, she says. Richa Chadha reveals that people give unsolicited opinions about a person’s physical appearance, irrespective of their talent and how much hard work they’ve put in.
“You can lose cartilage, health or sanity over what ends up being a terrible film. And all your well-intentional effort amounts to a big fat zero,” she says, referring to the movie Shakeela, which she put on weight for but it ended up flopping on the box office.
“When you’re harassed, people will say it is part of the job.” Richa Chadha shared newspaper clippings bullying her for wearing outfits “better left to women who live on a doughnut a day.”
“There’s better conversation to be made [than someone’s weight]”, the actor urged.
Never one to mince words, Richa said: “It’s me, my body, ever-changing. To hell with people.”
Richa Chadha’s campaign against bodyshaming
The actor has also given a Ted Talk on the issue. She discussed the unrealistic standards of physical beauty prevalent in Bollywood and how they harm mental health.
A lot of women and teenagers reached out to Chadha after the talk and shared their stories of body shaming. And she has never stopped calling it out since.
Richa made waves in India for her 2015 movie Masaan with Vicky Kaushal, which reflects on internalised shame around pre-marital sex in Indian society.
