Sonakshi Sinha on Double XL: ‘Body shaming starts at home; my mother constantly told me to lose weight’

In a conversation with Firstpost on Double XL, actress Sonakshi Sinha believes strongly that body shaming starts at home. Sonakshi is known for projecting a healthy body image. As  a kid, she remembers her mother telling her constantly to lose weight. But she doesn’t blame the mothers who want their daughters to lose weight. She believes that probably they too went through the same pressure when they were youngers and may be their parents were telling them the same thing as well. Excerpts from the interview: Tell us about the process of putting on weight for Double XL ? I had put on about 15 kilos in a span of two months. And I did it by eating whatever I liked eating. I must admit the way I had to put on 15 kilos in a not very healthy way. But because I had very little time between the last film that I was shooting and Double XL, I had to do it really quick. And I have the tendency to put on weight, so it didn’t take me very long to put on that weight. On body shaming and as a kid any incident that you remember which you had to go through? I was an overweight child. I don’t remember being on the lower side of the scale. I used to get teased a lot in school and a lot of name calling used to happen. But at that point of time, I feel I was way more confident because I believed that there were many other things that I was good at like I was very good at sports. I used to play a lot of sports and I was good at each and every one of them. So, for me that really gave me my confidence. When I went to college I was overweight then also. And I was studying fashion and in that environment everybody expects you to look a certain way. There is so much pressure on you to fit in and that was something that would constantly bog me down. This is the reason the film Double XL is so important to me and the character that I am playing it was very important to tell her story as well. Your message to those who are battling the bulge… We are not promoting obesity, but we are promoting the fact that it is not okay to tell anyone no matter how they look, no matter what shape or size they are, what colour they are, what height they are that they are not good enough. Everybody has dreams and has the right to dream. It will just be a better world if we are kinder to people and help them achieving their dreams rather than pulling them down. Your love affair with food… I simply love food and it is a love affair, I just can’t get rid of. I am a complete foodie. Even when I am on my fitness journey I don’t punish myself when it comes to food. When I feel like really eating something, I go ahead and eat. But then I compensate on working hard a little bit harder. I don’t believe in killing myself over anything. How did you go about the body standards set in the industry? Even after I became an actor, the people around me spoke a lot about my weight and that kind of initially made me feel like asking that why are people ignoring the work that I am doing. But one thing that people never stopped talking about was my weight. So, beyond a point I also got tired. I was someone who has always projected a very healthy body image. Growing up I didn’t have a role model who would tell me that it’s okay to do things at a pace that I wanted to and to look the way you look. And that I am beautiful and things will fall in place. I always wanted to be that person for younger girls. But again I lived on my own terms when I wanted to lose weight I did. And everybody should do that if you are a big person and you have the want and will to lose weight you should work towards it because that is your goal. But don’t do it because others are telling you to do it. If you are happy with the way you are and you feel healthy the way you are please go ahead and be the way you are. How body shaming starts at home? Absolutely this conditioning happens when you are a child. I remember my mother telling me constantly to lose weight. And when somebody was constantly saying that to you, the rebellious kid in me would always do the opposite and the day my mother stopped telling me that’s when it actually struck me that I need to do something about my weight. It does start at home and my mom also realised that after watching the film. I don’t blame all the mothers who want their daughters to lose weight because they probably went through the same thing when they were youngers and may be their parents were telling them as well. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .