📣 For more lifestyle news, click here to join our WhatsApp Channel and also follow us on Instagram
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Actor-turned-influencer Shenaz Treasury recently reflected on the harsh criticism she faced while filming her debut movie Ishq Vishk in 2003, where she starred opposite Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao.
Playing the role of Alisha, the “prettiest girl in college,” came with pressures that went far beyond performance. She shared how the director criticised her appearance, saying she needed to look “perfect” on screen. “In college, there was all that pressure too, you know, like neeli neeli aankhon wali kaun hai wo (referring to a song in the movie), and then the director was like, ‘You’ve got to wear green lenses, you have to be perfect, you have to look great. Oh, you don’t look good in some angles; actresses are supposed to look good in all angles,’ as if it were my fault (sic),” Shenaz said.
She recalled being put on a restrictive diet and even being stopped from eating to appear thinner. “I was told, ‘Oh, you’re too fat, your belly is sticking out, you need to diet.’ The other girl in the movie was so thin, they were padding her, putting pads on her, while they were trying to shrink me. So I was on some crazy diet. They wouldn’t let me eat. It was so ridiculous. And it was so sad. Looking back, I can’t believe we had to go through those things. In fact, the world we live in today is much nicer to actors and more accepting of all shapes and sizes,” she added.
Psychologist Rasshi Gurnani tells indianexpress.com, “Being forced into restrictive eating or controlled diets at a young age often disrupts a person’s natural relationship with food. Instead of seeing food as nourishment, they start associating it with guilt, anxiety, and control. This creates long-term patterns like yo-yo dieting, binge-restrict cycles, or emotional eating.”
She adds, “Psychologically, it also weakens body trust; hunger and fullness cues are ignored in favor of external rules. Over time, this can distort body image and self-worth, as individuals begin to measure their value by how closely they fit an imposed standard rather than by their health or sense of self.”
Unlearning the pressure to ‘look perfect’ requires dismantling those internalised voices of shame. The first step is recognising that critical self-talk is not the truth but conditioning. Gurnani mentions that therapeutic practices “like cognitive reframing help replace these harsh beliefs” with more compassionate self-perception. Shifting toward body neutrality can also be powerful — valuing the body for what it allows us to do rather than how it looks.
Actively consuming diverse and realistic representations of beauty through media and social environments helps widen perspective. “Most importantly, rebuilding a relationship with food that is based on respect, enjoyment, and care rather than punishment allows individuals to reclaim autonomy over their bodies and move toward acceptance,” concludes Gurnani.
