Ananya Panday reveals she faced ‘casual sexism’ in initial days, was told to ‘fill up a little more’
Bollywood actor Ananya Panday has often found herself at the centre of the nepotism debate in the Hindi film industry. Now, in a recent interview, the Gehraiyaan star has said that fulfilling her dream of becoming an actor was not easy for her at all. She shared how despite being the daughter of actor Chunky Panday, she was never ‘promised anything’ before she made her debut. Ananya stepped into Bollywood with Karan Johar-produced Student of the Year 2. She also talked about facing casual sexism in her initial days in the industry.
During her appearance on The Ranveer Show, she shared, “I was never promised anything or spoken to about any opportunities. I always wanted to become an actor but I never knew how am I going to become one. I never thought it was going to be easy.”
She recalled people telling her to fix her body and that it was ‘hurtful’ for her to hear such things. She revealed, “As soon as I started working, people started saying things like ‘you should fix this and fix that, like get a boob job or change something about your face. And, it is said very casually and not in direct words that you sometimes even don’t pick it up. They would say, ‘just fill up a little more. Put on some weight.’”
Hurt people’s suggestions, Ananya thought, “Is that what people really care about? Is that what I am reduced to? Is there nothing about me paramount to my wa size or chest size? The worst thing you can do to someone is judging them for their body.”Best of Express PremiumPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
Ananya Panday was last seen alongside Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi in the Amazon Prime Video film Gehraiyaan. She will be next seen in Liger, also starring Vijay Devarkonda, and Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, in which she will reunite with Siddhant.
The 23-year-old actor also said that people fail to see the hard work that is required in the film business. Instead, everyone just talks about its glamorous side. She said, “Most of the people just look at the glamorous side of the movie-making business. It is wrapped in glossy ways but actually, it is very hard. Acting might come across as effortless, and you will find actors on the red carpet, doing events and dressing up every single day, that’s just probably only the -product of the actual job that we are doing.”
She concluded calling acting “emotionally and physically draining.” She added, “It is hard as there are so many things like insecurities and pressure.”
