Ananya Panday had a magnificent 2024, she received all the love and appreciation for her work in ‘Call Me Bae’ and Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘CTRL’. Not just with films but she wowed her fans with her sartorial choices and by walking the ramp for the biggest designers. It is almost as if the internet has a newfound love for this star kid and many a time netizens comment on pictures saying that she is becoming more relatable as days go by. Recently, she has opened up about certain struggles that she had to go through while she was growing and her confidence in being able to speak about these has made her appear more humane.
In a conversation with Forbes India, the Bae of Bollywood opened up about how she often feels the need to meet certain beauty standards as an actor, not just that, but she also spoke at length about facing body shaming back in school and how that made her extremely insecure about her own body. During the chat, she mentioned that she was called names when she was in school and people often made comments on her body. While talking about the kind of pressure an actor goes through to maintain a certain beauty standard she openly conveyed that she has been insecure about her body for a long time.
Ananya said, “It may seem like I am very happy with my body and that I fit ideal beauty standards. I’ve heard that so much, but I am also very insecure about my body, and I have been since I was a kid. When I was in school, people would say, ‘Oh, you’re a hunchback, you have toothpick legs, chicken legs, and you’re a flat-screen TV.'”
She further mentioned, “I also heard things like, ‘Why are your arms so hairy?’ and all that stuff, like when you’re a kid growing up. People’s words can really affect you. The fact that I still remember exactly what people said and who said it 12 years later just shows how much words can stick.”
In the conversation, she also addressed how one can change these things, and how one can reduce these pressures in society. She spoke about how actors should open up to their fans and followers about the fact that they are not perfect either and have their days too when they might overeat.
She said, “I think as an actor, the best I can do is talk about the fact that I have my off days too. I work at it and go to the gym every day. If I didn’t, I would also look a certain way. I was in Dubai, ate a little too much, and couldn’t fit into my skirt, and that’s okay. I think talking about that will show people that we are not perfect, and it takes a lot of work for us to look like this.”
In terms of work, Ananya will be next seen in Karan Johar’s ‘Chand Mera Dil’ opposite Lakshay, the movie is supposed to be a romantic drama and fans are looking forward to this fresh pairing. Towards the later part of the year, there is speculation that she will be seen sharing screen space alongside Akshay Kumar and R. Madhavan.