00:00All right, viewers, I just want to bring in to this conversation because all of us have seen the conversation
00:06around Katrina Kaif.
00:08And to say there are two parts to it, and let's break it down.
00:11They're the bad guys and the good guys.
00:12The bad guys are the ones who are constantly ridiculing her, humiliating her, making memes of her, comparing her to
00:19other actresses.
00:20Then there are what they think are the good guys, who have immediately come in thinking they're defending her with
00:26explanations like,
00:27oh, this is postpartum, she's grown a human, hormones shift during pregnancy, she's 40, she's taking a break, why can't
00:36she be allowed to do so?
00:37Most of them don't understand, and I'm talking about the good guys there who think they're defending her,
00:42are doing not just her, but women who are in the public eye the biggest disservice.
00:47They're not breaking any stereotypes, they're actually defending the stereotypes in this and reinforcing that stereotype.
00:54are offering a medical explanation, the reason why, oh, she's put on weight.
01:00Pregnancy. Pregnancy, no pregnancy.
01:04Postpartum, no postpartum.
01:05Why should a woman be subject to ridicule or humiliation or being judged on her weight, on her appearance?
01:15I want to bring in, very quickly into this conversation, Tara Deshpande, author, actor.
01:19Sanjana Galrani, South Indian philanthropist, both of them joined me live.
01:24Tara, I want to bring you in on this because, you know, I'll tell you personally what I think is
01:29problematic
01:29and I think a lot of Indians should find it problematic, is to give explanations that the weight gain of
01:37Katrina Kaif
01:38deserves a medical explanation because somewhere down the line it's a failure that she's put on weight,
01:44but there is a medical explanation because she was pregnant.
01:49Yeah, I don't think that any explanation should be offered because it's really nobody's business.
02:00I'm sorry.
02:02Yeah, you're with us.
02:03I don't think any explanation of any kind should be offered.
02:06It's nobody's business.
02:07And I don't believe that these actresses who have worked in the industry for a very long time
02:12and who have developed a thick skin really give a toss about what anybody who's really mean-spirited
02:16and who's unhappy with themselves.
02:18I mean, these kinds of comments are a classic example of self-loathing.
02:22You're unhappy with yourself, you're unhappy with your life, so you pick on other people.
02:26I don't think any explanation in the future is warranted.
02:29I think people like this should just be blocked or ignored, and the moment you ignore them
02:33and they get no response, they're just going to disappear automatically.
02:37But the one thing that I do want to say at this point is, you know, this was started around
02:42the 90s by the press.
02:44You know, the traditional press used to use terms like thunder thighs and jelly belly and unrecognizable
02:50and all kinds of negative terms.
02:53I'm sure you remember those newspaper articles where women's body parts were circled
02:57with arrows drawn to show, oh, look at her belly, oh, look at her arms, oh, look at her hips.
03:02You know, so this trend is not something new.
03:05It's existed for a really long time, and it's an Indian problem.
03:08When you go abroad, you don't see this as much.
03:11This happens not only to women who are in the media, but it happens to women who are not in
03:14the media as well.
03:15Though there is a very special meanness that is reserved for people who are associated with Bollywood.
03:22But Tara, it's really not an Indian problem because you've had the likes of Kate Winslet
03:26who've talked in detail about being body shamed.
03:29It's a problem worldwide in India because it's okay.
03:33It's a problem in the media worldwide.
03:36No, I agree.
03:37It's a problem with any woman who's in the public eye,
03:40and she's, you know, free for anyone to comment where her weight and her appearance is concerned.
03:47I just want to bring in Sanjana Galrani into this conversation as well.
03:50Ms. Galrani, the fact is, you know, pregnancy is not a crisis,
03:55and it doesn't need a medical explanation to somewhere down the line say,
04:01oh, it's okay, she's put on this weight because she was pregnant.
04:05Why give these explanations?
04:07It's nobody's business, but Katrina Kaif's business.
04:10It's nobody's business, but Aishwarya Rai's business.
04:13So a lot of women out there who think they're really doing good,
04:16or a lot of men out there who think they're coming in to defend Katrina Kaif by saying,
04:20oh, she's 40, you know, pregnancy hormones are shifting.
04:24That's why the weight is there.
04:25Give her a break.
04:26All of this only reinforces the same old stereotype
04:29that you're trying to offer an excuse for a body that has changed.
04:35I am someone who really appreciates compliments.
04:40I am also in the limelight for the last 20 years.
04:43I'm a film actor.
04:44I'm a mother of two.
04:45I was blessed with a son four and a half years ago,
04:47and my daughter is just 16 months old.
04:50And my weight also terribly fluctuated,
04:53and I went through everything that Katrina Kaif is going on right now
04:56in the southern part of India.
04:58And what happens to us that as actresses,
05:02they see us having, you know, very perfect bodies,
05:06the way we look to everything.
05:08So somewhere people have an expectation that she will always look this perfect.
05:12Even I had put on like, I was 85 kilos.
05:15I've come back to 68 or 69 right now.
05:18But I think I really look down at trollers.
05:23I condemn trollers.
05:25And I dare to not, I dare tell them that please stay away from any woman,
05:31not just a film actor for body shaming her
05:34or for looking down at her because she has put on weight.
05:37Because it's none of your personal business.
05:40As a fan, if you say that, ma'am, I would have loved it
05:43if you'd have lost a little bit of weight sooner than later,
05:46it's still accepted, you know.
05:48It's a compliment or it's a request from a fan.
05:50But there's a line that each troller needs to draw.
05:53You have to respect each and every human space.
05:57If a film actor is in the actor domain,
05:59that does not mean, or the public domain,
06:02that does not mean that she's wrong.
06:04But Sanjana, it's really not about trollers as well.
06:07Because you can expect,
06:08and I'll bring in Tara back into this conversation
06:10because Tara, trolls will be trolls, right?
06:13Right from eons, we've always had a certain set
06:16that has, you know, especially where women
06:19who have been in the public eye
06:21constantly put them under the spotlight,
06:23put them on a metric where they are gauged
06:26on the basis of how they look,
06:28their weight, their skin, their hair,
06:29how they dress.
06:30This has happened forever.
06:31The conversation we need to start having, Tara,
06:34which we're not really having,
06:35is those who think that they are defending
06:38the likes of Katrina Kaif
06:39by offering an explanation,
06:41a biological explanation of pregnancy,
06:44of hormones.
06:45For her, wait, it's nobody's business.
06:46There should only be one explanation for this.
06:49Yes.
06:50You know, women are judged so harshly in India.
06:54If your skin color is too dark,
06:56it's a problem, no one's going to marry you.
06:58If your hair is curly,
06:59it's a problem, no one's going to marry you.
07:01If your eyes are not a certain shape,
07:02oh, you know, you need to do something about it.
07:05There's always something physical
07:07to criticize in women.
07:08And, you know, earlier I'd said
07:10that it's an Indian problem.
07:11What I meant was,
07:13yes, media, it's a global problem.
07:15But in India,
07:16we have all these strange stereotypes
07:17about how women should look
07:18in the marriage market,
07:19how they should look before they get married
07:21and after they get married
07:22and after they have children.
07:24We've set women up
07:25to constantly be at the butt end
07:28of other people's opinions.
07:29So you're moving basically
07:31from one opinion to another.
07:32I mean, how many times have you heard,
07:34even before someone asks you,
07:36oh, how are you doing?
07:37It's so lovely to see you.
07:39You know, how's life?
07:40What have you been up to?
07:41Oh, oh, hi.
07:42You've gained weight, huh?
07:44Oh, your hair has like thinned.
07:46It's become a,
07:47it's a very typical conversation
07:50that you have in Indian drawing rooms
07:52or in Indian, you know, social settings.
07:55But it seems to, I don't know,
07:57people think they're being very clever
07:58when they come up to you,
07:59and especially men do this,
08:00when they come up to you
08:01and they make comments of this nature.
08:03You know, and sometimes I think
08:05it's so laughable
08:06because I want to turn around and say,
08:08dude, have you looked at yourself
08:09in the mirror?
08:10You know, but one is more polite
08:12and one is more sensitive
08:13and one has been brought up
08:15to be kind and sensitive to people.
08:17So one doesn't, you know,
08:19react in that sort of way.
08:20But I think we've come to a point now
08:22where we really need to understand
08:23that this sort of behavior is,
08:25it's not just insensitive,
08:26it's unacceptable.
08:28And it needs to stop.
08:30You know, I've walked into boardrooms,
08:32I've walked into boardrooms for business,
08:34I've walked into banks to open accounts,
08:36and I've heard people commenting on my looks,
08:38sometimes positively,
08:40sometimes negatively,
08:40and I don't want either of those comments
08:42because I'm not here
08:43to put up a show for you.
08:45I'm here to do business,
08:46I'm here to give you the benefit
08:47of my opinion or my intelligence
08:49or my money.
08:51Why does everything about women in India
08:53have to become one of them?
08:54That's all the time I have for,
08:55but, you know, I thank you, Tara,
08:56thank you, Ms. Galrani, for joining us.
08:57That's all the time we have.
08:58It's a quick close on this bulletin,
09:00but viewers, please do think about it
09:02because for those of you
09:03who think that you are defending
09:04the likes of Katrina Kaif
09:06by coming out and saying,
09:07oh, didn't you know that she was pregnant?
09:09She actually grew a human?
09:11That hormones were shifting in her body?
09:13Give her a break.
09:14Well, you're reinforcing the same stereotype
09:16that has been there
09:18where women and them being objectified
09:20at every stage of their life,
09:22especially women who've been in the public eye.
09:24So think a little more on that.
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