Renuka Shahane defends Aishwarya Rai against body-shaming: ‘Shut your mouth…’
Actor Aishwarya Rai has often found herself under scrutiny for her red carpet looks at the Cannes Film Festival and has faced trolling after gaining weight post-pregnancy. Now, actor Renuka Shahane has stepped up in her defense, calling the conversation around Aishwarya’s weight unfair.
Renuka defends Aishwarya
During an interview with Zoom, Renuka spoke about how Aishwarya faced body-shaming over her Cannes red carpet appearances after embracing motherhood.
Married to Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya gave birth to her daughter Aaradhya on November 16, 2011.
Renuka said, “Should we not celebrate her consistent achievements over the years? It doesn’t take one minute for a big company to drop you. And she has been the brand ambassador for the company for years and she is representing us year in, out. And all we can think of is ‘Oh isme ye pehna toh ye thik nahi tha (What she wore was not right). Oh no!’ Please mat kariye ye (Please don’t do it). If you don’t have anything nice to say, just shut your mouth.”
The actor acknowledged that female actors often face immense pressure in the industry. She added, “With the advent of social media, alag hi duniya hi hogayi hai ab toh (there is a new world). Keher hogaya hai, literally (It is terrible)! Itna judgement leke jeena, itna pressure leke jeena (To live amid judgements and pressure)… it is very tough for actors, especially female actors now. It is tough. Maa ban jaati hai uske baad ye expectation hai ki aap vaisi charhari ho. (After becoming a mother, the expectation is that you should be as slim as earlier).”
After her delivery, Aishwarya received flak for her post-pregnancy weight gain. At that time, Abhishek spoke about people’s judgemental attitude. “I just think it’s extremely insensitive and no one has the liberty to speak about her like the way they sometimes do. Yes, she’s a public figure, but people forget she’s also a woman and now a mother and there’s a line that’s not to be crossed. I don’t talk that way about any woman ever and it’s obviously not graceful for anyone to talk about her like that either,” the actor told DNA.
About Aishwarya and Renuka’s work
On the work front, Renuka was most recently seen in the Marathi film, Devmanus. Meanwhile, Aishwarya was last seen in Ponniyin Selvan II, directed by Mani Ratnam. The film emerged as a major box office success. The film, which also featured Vikram, Karthi, Trisha, and Jayam Ravi in lead roles, grossed ₹344.63 crore worldwide. Aishwarya is yet to announce her next project.
