Body shaming isn’t new to any media industry, however, it’s only recently that stars have come out and talked about the mistakes or the body shame cycle they’ve been a part of. The latest to do so is Karan Johar.
Karan, who is often considered Alia Bhatt’s mentor, launched her in Bollywood along with Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra in Student of the Year. However, he has now admitted that during her debut film, he was a voice of distress for the young actress when he would ask her to lose weight.
“I asked Alia to lose weight and now, when I see her hysterical about how she looks, I feel responsible,†Karan said on his radio show. “She’s in the gym every day and even if she puts on an extra kilo, she goes crazy. I think I am to blame for it. Now that I am a parent, I would never do this to Roohi and I would like to apologise to Alia.â€
Karan also said that Alia was ‘pleasantly plump’ when she entered the industry. He added that Bollywood tries to emulate the West. “If they’re thin, sexy and wear satin gowns on the red carpet, we want to do the same.â€
