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Voluptuousness was the standard, says Bollywood’s Sonali Bendre on 90s beauty standards and body-shaming

Voluptuousness was the standard, says Bollywood’s Sonali Bendre on 90s beauty standards and body-shaming

The actor revealed in an interview that she was once told you're "not woman enough" if you're not curvaceous.
10 Aug, 2022

Bollywood’s Sonali Bendre has something to say about body standards in the Indian entertainment industry. Unlike other entertainment industries, Bollywood wasn’t interested in women being “skinny” in the 1990s. Instead, “voluptuous” bodies were the standard and she recalls being body-shamed at the time for not fitting the mould.

Speaking to Bollywood Bubble on Monday, Bendre said, “Being skinny was definitely not the standard of beauty. Voluptuousness was the standard of beauty and I was told you were just not woman enough if you were not voluptuous, you know which it shouldn’t be.”

“I do agree body shaming should not have any part in our society and especially little girls and the kind of ideas they are growing with and the crazy dieting people are doing. People are forgetting that it is not holistic,” she said.

After facing body-shaming, she had to face lack of acceptance for her battle with cancer. Bendre shared that when she wanted to do a shoot with her scar showing, she was “scared” to reveal it as she didn’t think she could step out without a wig. “If you’re afraid of it, crush it right there. The scary part was — as you know the bloated face, the scar, and the baldness and especially when the hair just started coming, it’s just the most ugly sight.”

She revealed that after this struggle, she regained her confidence. “I said that the moment you’re scared of something and you’re feeling that ‘no, how can I do this’, I need to go out and do it and you just kill it right there or just crush it then. That was one way of looking at it.”

Bendre has returned to the screen and currently can be seen in OTT show The Broken News, a Hindi adaptation of Mike Bartlett’s BBC show Press. The plot features two rival news channels based in Mumbai — Awaaz Bharati, an independent, ethical news channel, and Josh 24/7 News, which offers sensationalist and invasive journalism, and what transpires between the main characters in their quest for news. The show marks her streaming debut alongside actors Jaideep Ahlawat, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Indraneil Sengupta, Taaruk Raina, Aakash Khurana and Kiran Kumar.

Comments

Tariq Aug 10, 2022 07:09pm
Hey look at me again.
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LOL Aug 10, 2022 07:20pm
Who cares.
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Soniye tu auder te la Aug 10, 2022 07:59pm
She hasn't aged one bit in decades.
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Mahrukh Aug 10, 2022 11:42pm
A timeless beauty
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Syed Ahmed Aug 11, 2022 02:52am
One of the truest beautiful in Bollywood
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Sunil Aug 11, 2022 05:02am
One of my favourite actresses from 90’s though she did okay on big screen.
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Maz Aug 11, 2022 07:25am
Who is Sonali? Is this newsworthy??
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Wasim Rajah Aug 11, 2022 08:01am
@LOL You cared to read and reply
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John Aug 11, 2022 08:17am
She is s gorgeous
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