Athiya Shetty, Who Was Body Shamed As A Teenager, Says, “It Is Important To Be Kind”

New Delhi:

Actress Athiya Shetty doesn’t believe in “commenting on someone’s weight, appearance, anything that can make them less confident.” The actress, in an interview with news agency ANI, revealed that she was trolled as a teenager for being skinny. Athiya Shetty, who is four-films old in Bollywood, said it is always “important to be kind” as our words can have major “impact” on people their lives. “I have fallen into the category of body shaming when I was young,” the 29-year-old actress told ANI and added: “People need to realise that body-shaming is not only associated with being overweight but also skinny and I have always believed that commenting on someone’s weight, appearance, anything that can make them less confident is something I don’t believe in. You do not know what battle people are facing and you do not know what their insecurities are.”

She added: “I always believe if you do not have anything nice to say, just don’t say anything at all. Our words have such an impact on people and our everyday lives. It is important to be kind, how we feel reflects in our every day’s activities.”

Athiya Shetty revealed that she used to be “very conscious” of her physical appearance during her childhood and teenage days but now, she is doing a lot better as she has confidence in herself. Athiya is the daughter of actor Suniel Shetty.

“I do not really deal with them anymore. I used to when I was a child and when I was a teenager. I used to be very conscious of my body, I still am. But I am a lot better because I have confidence in myself today. People don’t know what body shaming is, they believe it concerns people who are overweight and that is not okay as well. People also body shame who are skinny and who might look a certain way. That is incorrect as well,” the actress told ANI.

The 29-year-old actress also believes that magazine covers, movies and social media also play a big part in promoting body shaming.

She said: “I do feel that there are so many boys and girls, men and women who aspire to be a certain body type, aspire to be a certain way in terms of their appearance because of social media, because of magazine covers, because of movies, reality shows. There are so many false adjectives of beautiful and that’s something scary because there are so many people wanting to look the same way,” reported ANI.

“Being real is beautiful,” said Athiya and we totally agree with her. The actress told ANI that having flaws is also okay because “being imperfect is your own perfect.” She added: “It’s important to help society understand that not everyone will look the same or be the same. It’s spoken about women more, but all men are also not the same. It’s tough to sometimes be a certain way you should not need to feel that.”

Athiya Shetty made her Bollywood debut with 2015 film Hero, co-starring with newcomer Sooraj Pancholi. Athiya was last seen in Motichoor Chaknachoor, in which she worked with Nawazuddin Siddiqui.