Vidya Balan says filmmakers would ask her to ‘shed some weight’ before every film: ‘I find this absolutely ridiculous’

She continued, “Finally four to five years ago, when the director said this to me, I said, ‘Please, I am not going to be the body you need me to be. You need to go to the body you need.’ I find this absolutely ridiculous. Because the part was written with me in mind. So why this insistence? What is this obsession with only thin being desirable and acceptable?”

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Vidya Balan said that she tried to lose weight. However, for some reason, it was not happening. “Not like I wasn’t trying to shed weight. Growing up I wanted to be thin. I began to love and accept myself. It has been a very important journey,” she said.

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The Indian Express group, HSBC, and Taj Hotels have teamed up to create Expresso, a platform for diverse, engaging content featuring personalities from art, culture, and entertainment. The event, featuring Pratik and Vidya, took place at Taj Land’s End, Mumbai.