Ananya Panday recalls facing hurtful comments for being skinny: 'Chicken legs, matchstick, don’t have an a**'

Body shaming, a pervasive issue, unfortunately, affects even those in the public eye, including actors like Ananya Panday. Recently, in an interview with Lilly Singh, she shared her experience of being trolled at 18-19 for her physique, revealing that people used to call her names like ‘chicken legs, matchstick, don’t have an a**,’ and other hurtful comments.

I was 18 or 19 when I started out, and I was really skinny. Everyone used to kind of make fun about that. They were like, ‘Oh, you have chicken legs,’ ‘You look like a matchstick,’ ‘You don't have tits,’ and ‘You don't have an a**.’ So that was what it was first

- Ananya Panday

"They were like, oh, there's no way she's got her b*** done, or she's got this done. So you can never win. People will constantly have something to say and criticize that. And that's something that I've seen, especially with women. I don't feel like they do that to men at all."

"I feel like it's our fault also, because we have set unrealistic beauty standards in the films that we've... You know, I, as an actress, feel like sometimes I do put that messaging out there in the films that I've done or the songs that I've done that, oh, you're all beautiful, you wake up in the morning, and your hair's done, and it's not true."

As Ananya Panday matures and her body evolves, she encounters relentless speculation about cosmetic enhancements, making it difficult to avoid public scrutiny.

She highlights that women consistently face criticism, unlike men who largely escape such judgment. Panday acknowledges that Bollywood movies often perpetuate unrealistic beauty ideals.

Ananya, reflecting on her career, acknowledges that her on-screen roles may have inadvertently promoted the unrealistic idea of women instantly achieving 'beauty' upon waking, complete with styled hair and flawless looks, a standard she now recognizes as false.

The actress advocates for open discussions to counter these unrealistic portrayals, emphasizing that they don't reflect reality. She also aims to present a more genuine image outside of her acting roles, reminding the public that the flawless appearance seen on screen is not authentic.

Ananya Panday's most recent project was Kesari Chapter 2, co-starring Akshay Kumar and R. Madhavan, where she received acclaim for her portrayal of a lawyer.

Looking ahead, Ananya has several projects in development. She's set to appear in Amazon Prime Video’s Call Me Bae sequel and Karan Johar’s Chand Mera Dil, alongside Lakshay, directed by Vivek Soni, with a release planned for later this year.