Sonam Kapoor has always been vocal about her body image issues, even discussing the fact that magazines have to retouch her thighs to cover her cellulite. Sonam opened up about her struggle with body image issues in a piece she wrote for Buzzfeed, in which she talked about how celebrities and their over-zealous team of make-up artists and stylists present an illusion of flawlessness that is toxic to young girls who look up to them.
Aside from being a body positivity icon, Sonam is also a regular at the Cannes red carpet, where she is scrutinized worldwide on the basis of her fashion and beauty choices. This fact was brought up by Anupama Chopra in an interview with the actress before her red carpet appearance this year. She wanted to know how Sonam could subscribe to this ‘Cannes idea of flawlessness’ and still stay true to what she believes in. “The one thing that I truly believe in is to never give young girls or women, who follow me, a false perception of who I am. That’s why I wrote that article, and that’s why there’s always a ‘before’ and ‘after’ image that goes up. That’s also why I celebrate my team so much.” Sonam regularly posts BTS videos and images of herself getting ready before these events on her social media accounts and her app to reiterate the importance of people knowing that it takes a lot for her to look the way she looks.
“There’s a lot of effort that goes into making me look this way, it’s my job. There are a lot of professionals working on me and it takes a lot of money. I don’t want girls to think that it’s easy or that this is how I wake up,” she said.
Sonam also clarified that it’s OK to wear make-up and spend time dressing up yourself, “I want to remind these girls that it’s OK to celebrate yourself but also to not put so much pressure on yourself.”
She is very careful about what she posts or says on social media so as to not give anyone a false idea about how she looks, “I am a disaster in the morning. I want everyone to know that beyond all of this, there is a regular, normal girl who has bad skin, bad hair days, and cellulite and sometimes is not self-confident at all.”
More power to you, Sonam.
When Bollywood goes body positive
Along with Sonam Kapoor, celebrities like Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have also opened up about their struggles with their body image issues and how they came to accept their flaws.
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