Vidya Balan reveals she was told to look 'Younger' than Shahid Kapoor in Kismat Konnection

The actress also opened up about a phase when she gained significant weight

Bollywood star Vidya Balan recently spoke about facing body-shaming in the industry. Although she noted that the situation has gotten better now, she shared an instance from the 2008 movie Kismat Konnection where she was told to appear 'younger' than her co-star Shahid Kapoor.

She mentioned getting a call from someone who pointed out that Shahid is two years younger and advised her to slim down to appear younger than him.

Speaking to Filmfare the actress stated, “There was this chatter that you have to look young if you want to work with some of the actors. I remember before I did Kismat Konnection, someone called me and said Shahid is two years younger than you. And you are being cast opposite him. Therefore you have to shed weight and make sure you look even younger than him. And of course, the world has changed now.

Adding further she also quoted that, “Until 2019, on every single film, I’d get a call from the producer, director. They would ask for a meeting and they would say ‘Can you shed some weight?’ I would be like ‘Listen, I am not sitting on my haunches doing nothing. If I could, I would do it for myself, forget any film!’ But those things are not nice. If you want someone with a different kind of body, go to that person. You want someone like me with my kind of person, then come to me. Because even for the most regular character, they would want me to be thinner.”

Also read: MP Mahua Moitra reveals her Bollywood crush is Pankaj Tripathi, says "I love the mean bad roles he does..."

The actress also opened up about a phase when she gained significant weight saying, “I was exercising like a beast. And today there is the awareness that I was actually harming myself., My body was in distress. I was so frustrated. I was barely eating. I was killing it in the gym. And I kept feeling like Oh maybe I am not pushing myself enough."

Kismat Konnection, featuring Vidya Balan and Shahid Kapoor, was helmed by director Aziz Mirza and hit theaters on July 18, 2008.