Actress Raashi Khanna has penned a poem. It’s about battling beauty stereotypes.
‘I am not the size of my jeans. I am the size of my smile…
…I am not who you want me to be. I am who I am.’
– is how the poem ends.
The actress, in a recent free-wheeling chat with the Hyderabad Times, spoke about her struggle to cope with beauty standards all her life.
Pic: Telugu 360
Recommended
“The poem was a very personal thing; it was only for my eyes. But my decision to put this particular poem out there, online, was because I felt it was very relevant. When it comes to the way women’s bodies are scrutinised, there is no winning. So there is this grave need for us to understand that there cannot be a set beauty standard,” she said.
The actress is candid when she talks about weight issues. “Before I lost weight, people used to tell me, ‘You should knock off some kilos’. When I did, I was told, ‘Oh, you looked better before’. I figured that people will always have opinions. When you break out of the idea that their opinion matters, that’s when a revolution begins.”
The literature graduate from LSR college in Delhi declared that she is not meant to be size zero. “I lost weight not because of pressure, but because I wanted to. I wanted to be healthier and fitter. I’ve never gone on a crash diet. I’ve never wanted to be size zero. I couldn’t be size zero, even if I wanted to! I am not built for that and I have no qualms about it.”
The Madras Cafe actress also uploaded a video on the occasion of International Women’s Day to send her fans and well-wishers a strong message.
Meanwhile, Raashi is busy wrapping up movies in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. She will be seen essaying the role of a cop in the Mohanlal movie, Villain.
*****