When size didn’t matter

Sahiba Cuccria

A trip down memory lane is enough to familiarise one with the ‘vital’ importance of vital statistics  of 36-24-36 to make the cut in Indian cinema for women. While the reigning men could seamlessly get away sans as much as a glimpse of those rippling muscles and the now envious six packs and eight packs, it was unforgivable for leading B-town ladies of the contemporary era to grace the silver screen with even the slightest hint of the almost forbidden word — ‘Fat’.
Back in 2008, when Kareena Kapoor decided to trade her curves for a size zero frame, the brigade of aspiring actresses went into frenzy. Some survived on almonds while others took a healthier route in the form of power yoga. As the size zero diva rejoiced in the glory of her skinny self adorning the glossy covers of fashion and fitness magazines alike, the fitness critics were busy critiquing or should we say criticising the voluptuous Vidya Balan for her heavy frame.
“Even at my slimmest, I was feeling big,” Vidya was quoted as saying in one of the interviews given by her in the recent past. Her attempts to be the ‘perfect’ weight were proving to be unsuccessful. Until, The Dirty Picture came her way. This time around, she put on weight to bend the rules. As The Dirty Picture found its way to the theatres, Vidya’s quest for perfection came to an end. For curvy actresses, it was a beginning long sought. Meanwhile, Kareena tossed her “Voluptuous is Sexy, Fat is Not” belief out of the window and was back in no time to sporting a healthier and fitter body.
Size zero seemed a reality of the past. Curvy was on its way to being hailed as the new sexy. If Vidya was the epitome of a woman being comfortable in her own skin, Parineeti Chopra, who made the critics sit up and take notice of her with a stellar debut in YRF’s Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, only, strengthened that belief. Though the film tanked at the boxoffice, Parineeti’s career took off on a high note. The road to success wasn’t without its fair share of struggles for Parineeti. Though her portrayal of the bubbly Dimple Chaddha won her several accolades, the media mongers seemed more interested in her fluctuating weight than her impressive line-up of films. Having the petite and slender Priyanka Chopra as a cousin only flared up all the talk around her weight. Parineeti, however, remains unfazed by the constant scrutiny that the paparazzi often indulge in.
When one talks about the new crop of actresses, Parineeti isn’t the only one who represents the changing perception of Indian cinema towards body image. The likes of self-assured actresses, Sonakshi Sinha and Huma Qureshi, have defied stereotypes too by carving a niche for themselves while flaunting fuller figures, despite Bollywood having a tyrannical obsession with stick-thin girls. While it was Salman Khan who saw Dabangg’s leading lady in the once overweight Sonakshi Sinha, Anurag Kashyap with his directorial venture, Gangs of Wasseypur, acquainted the audience with the plus-sized Huma Qureshi, whose acting chops were enough to give A-listers a run for their money. When the fashion-turned-fitness critics rolled up their sleeves to fat-shame Huma with their unabashed comments, she silenced them as she posed on the cover of a popular magazine with the message etched loud and clear, ‘My Body, My Rules’.
At the advent of her career, Sonakshi, too, had to face the heat for her broad structure. But she refused to be bogged down by the ‘size matters’ talk that still can be faintly heard in the industry. Instead, she chose to work towards being the reigning queen of Indian cinema with films like Dabangg, Dabangg 2, Rowdy Rathore and more recently, Tevar among other blockbusters.
The quintessential heroine of Hindi cinema is no longer only the slim-waist girl next door. She is also Sandhya Verma of Dum Laga Ke Haisha, who is undeterred by the criticism that she faces for being a certain weight and has the resolve to stand up for herself when no one else does. Bhumi Pednekar might not mind reducing to size zero if that is what the script demands, but through her onscreen depiction in the critically acclaimed Dum Laga Ke Haisha, she not only imparts to the audience the importance of being at ease with one’s own body, but also, unintentionally conforms to the rather pleasant reality that Indian cinema is embracing change. Size doesn’t matter, realism and real women do.