Sonam Kapoor On Foraying Into Bollywood Alongside Deepika, Anushka: ‘They Were All Supermodels’ | Viral
In a throwback interview, Sonam Kapoor said that there was size zero fad around the time she was debuting in Bollywood.
Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor made her acting debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2007 romantic drama ‘Saawariya’ and the actress has come a long way in her career since then. In an old interview, she talked about foraying into Bollywood around the time when ‘size zero’ was a fad. She recalled that other actresses like Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma, who were also debuting around the same time, came from modelling backgrounds. Sonam said that her height and weight made her stand out compared to petite actresses like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Preity Zinta, and Rani Mukerji. Despite the pressure to conform to beauty standards, Sonam felt confident as she was fortunate enough to work with ‘progressive’ directors Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra at the beginning of her career.
In a 2022 interview with Vogue India, Sonam Kapoor was asked how she dealt with the pressure to conform to beauty standards when she was debuting. She replied, “Around the same time, size zero situation was happening. At the same time, there was Deepika, Anushka, they were all supermodels, who were debuting along with (me). They came from the modelling (background)…And I am tall. I am probably the same height as them, but I used to be 86kgs."
related stories
View this post on Instagram
She further added, “Before that generation, there were Aishwarya, Sushmita, or there were really petite girls like Rani, Bebo, Preity. They were petite. They were 5’3" or 5’4". I was like this big 5’10" girl. And fortunately for me my family environment was so loving and gave me so much confidence." She also said that she was fortunate to work with the ‘best’ and most ‘progressive’ directors right at the beginning of her career- Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
She recalled, “Sanjay Bhansali used to say ‘You look like an Ajanta painting. You are voluptuous, you are beautiful. And obviously you will lose your baby fat.’ I did not realize how I lost the weight because I was just working as an assistant director. And I was losing the weight and exercising for my health because I was diagnosed with PCOS." After this, she became really ‘slim’. “I was 22 or 23 and then Rakeysh Mehra turned around and said you are playing a girl from Delhi, from Chandni Chowk in Delhi 6. You cannot be so thin because you are wearing Indian clothes and you are looking too thin. So you need to start eating’," recalled Sonam.
Sonam Kapoor worked as an assistant director on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2005 film ‘Black’ after which she made her acting debut in Bhansali’s Saawariya’ in 2007. Two years later, she starred in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s film ‘Delhi-6’ alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Waheeda Rehman.
- Location :
- First Published: