And it’s not just Nysa, social media has become the bane of everyone’s existence. Celebs aside, even their kids are not spared from judgmental comments of the troll brigade. Janhvi Kapoor, Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Palak Tiwari and many other star kids who have worked hard, both on their body transformation and their crafts, have been subjected to hate comments day in and day out. Trolls cannot get over the fact that these star kids, who once may not have been as glamorous as their star parents, now have transformed themselves and are fitting so well in the stereotypical beauty standards.
In today’s #BigStory, we seek insightful perspectives from stars, image consultants, celebrity fitness trainers, psychiatrist and find out what drives this mentality of trolls, how star kids get affected by it, the stereotypes of beauty, how hard these kids work to achieve that perfect body and personality and more. Read on.
Stereotypical beauty standards
Oscar winning actress Kate Winslet recently detailed the horrifying effects of body shaming she went through and she battled feeling ‘deeply insecure’. She explained that even if an actress walks on a red carpet, and happens to look amazing in whatever she is wearing, people say, she ‘looks honed and toned’, or use a dreadful word ‘svelte’. “Don’t even say it! It’s such an irresponsible thing to do. It feeds directly into young women aspiring to ideas of perfection that don’t exist. Aspiring to have bodies that the press is saying we have,” Kate asserted.
Mother of Freddy actress Alaya F, Pooja Bedi tells ETimes, the concept of beauty changes continuously. “At one point it was aspirational to be fair. Now dusky and sun-kissed is aspirational. Two decades ago, they liked voluptuous, curvy actresses. Now it’s flat abs and a lean body. Airbrushed magazine covers prove that even what we consider perfect is clearly not perfect enough. Filters on Instagram, apps to change bodies – all create an unrealistic projection of what we should look like in reality. The good part is body shaming has been made a topic of conversation and the desire of being fit over slim is apparent,” she says adding, “I believe, to each his own. Everyone wants to change something which is why we have make-up, botox, hair dye, hair graft and filters. There is no moral or immoral in this.”
Yesteryear actress Anu Agarwal adds that the relevance of body perfection in showbiz is at an all time high. “My positive outlook says that something I saw in the Western fashion world is finally here. We in India have grown more conscious than before, but the hard truth is that the stars are public figures and are on a special scanner which then percolates down to our children, star kids. Though I wish we were a little more mentally aware so we could cope with this more effectively. Then we as star kids or star parents would be able to tackle whatever happens better, without losing it,” she says.
Renowned psychiatrist Dr Anjali Chhabria shares that it is the trolls who have already defined a certain standard that star kids must live up to. “Trolls are people who want to gain attention. The stars and star kids are in the public domain, and people feel that they have a right to own them, or to comment about them, because there’s a sense of ownership. And also with the star kids, it’s as if they’re supposed to live up to a certain standard, which has already been defined for them. And that standard may also include a moral standard, which has been decided by the trolls, that you cannot wear revealing clothes and you can’t do this or you can’t do that. Whereas other people of their age will be doing exactly all those things. But somewhere the public decides by their own value system,” she says.
The pressure to look perfect
Just recently, Orhan Awatramani, popularly known as Orry, opened up about undergoing a hair transplant. Orry, a popular face among star kids like Nysa, Janhvi, Khushi, Ananya Panday, Ahan Shetty and many others, is a social media celebrity in himself. Admittedly, he didn’t want to look 35 when he was 25. “Losing hair is the first reminder that you are ageing. And for someone like me who loves experimenting with his hair, I was understandably conscious,” Orry said in an interview with Vogue.
Just like him, the pressure is on for all star kids to look perfect, or appealing. Many of them go through difficult times struggling with their mental health and body image issues. Celebrity fitness trainer Yasmin Karachiwala, who has trained the likes of Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone, has closely worked with many star kids including Ananya Panday. “If you are the kid of a famous person, you have to match up to them, you have to look like them. People are constantly going to compare you to them, whether it’s your acting skill, whether it’s your physical appearance. And today, kids are not kids anymore, they have to grow up a lot faster. Because there are so many norms and checklists that they have to fit in. And it’s a hard life, being a star kid for all the fame and glory is not always needed by the person,” she tells ETimes.
Dr Anjali Chhabria highlights the psychology of star kids and says that it is unfortunate that a lot of the star parents try to give them a normal life, either by putting them in boarding schools or putting them in public schools allowing them to interact with equity. “But just by being who they are, there is already a certain expectation that they have from themselves. They are also treated differently compared to their friends, right from school, and they start getting conscious about their own looks. I’ve had some of them say that, ‘Oh, we love anonymity, that’s why we want to go away where people don’t know us, because many times we are constantly feeling watched.’ People are always looking at them and people are always expecting them to do something. Now, again, a lot of them, if they want to follow their parents footsteps, or get into the glam world, they know that they have to be maybe better than their parents or at least as good as their parents,” she explains.
Image consultant Shrenik Gandhi adds that all these targets (star kids) are very fragile. “Because most of them have a lot of baggage and most of them have a certain perception to carry on,” he says. “How they deal with the trolls is subjective from star to star. I know a lot of celebrities who would not mind making fun of the fact that they are made fun of. While some others literally go on borderline depression or beyond, because of so much prodding happening.”
Their body, their choice
The fact that Orry had the courage to open up about his cosmetic surgery knowing how people in the country despise celebs going under the knife is commendable. Not many will be this brave to be transparent about their cosmetic surgery. But what do others have to do with someone’s personal business? As actress Shanthipriya says, it is their body, their choice. “The star kids come in the limelight, but every kid who has or has not modified their body, gets trolled. Body shaming is something that is commonplace. Before trolling a person, one needs to put themselves in their shoes and see what they are going through,” she asserts.
As does Pooja Bedi. “I’m pro choice,” she says. “And at the end of the day, their decisions to shape a body part differently only impacts them for better or for worse, not anyone else. Your body. Your decision.”
Going under the knife is a very individualistic thing for people to do, believes Yasmin Karachiwala. “You and I don’t know what somebody else is going through. It’s very individual, like if a person has really been struggling and has tried everything and that’s the last option, who are we to judge? Whoever makes that decision thinks about it a lot before doing it. There are so many factors that we don’t even know, we disregard,” she says.
Anu Agarwal adds, “In the 90s, a man shaping eyebrows or manicure, pedicure was scoffed at, hence unheard of. Body shaping is a concept that is a recent one, but a lot of people are doing it and yes everyone’s body is their choice. But then the critical people’s opinion is also theirs and we should be able to accept it.”
It’s a lot of hard work
Anyone who’s tried to even lose a little weight will vouch for the fact that body transformations, especially the kind our stars and star kids undergo are no mean feat. It’s a whole lot of dedication, devotion and determination needed to attain that physique to die for. Dr Anjali Chhabria says the star kids, especially teenagers, want to do what they want to do. “A lot of them have a pressure to look in a particular way. Especially if they want to continue with their parents’ profession, they also feel that they’re supposed to be looking in a certain way, and also being fit in a certain way. From a very young age, they have not only seen their parents work towards their fitness, but they also believe that they should be doing the same. And when they need the body to flaunt, many of the times it could become an unhealthy preoccupation with one’s looks and dressing. They may find it difficult to just casually go out anywhere,” she cautions.
Yasmin Karachiwala says these kids today are quite sorted. “They do transformation because they want to look and feel a certain way. Today, if you want to act in a movie, there is a certain image that you want to play. And you work for that role, whether you’re doing an Archies, and you have to look a certain way, or you’re doing a Double XL, and you have to put on that much weight. People don’t realise what stars put themselves through. All everyone sees is what they’re posting on social media. But the kind of hard work that goes into what they do and at a drop of a hat, we dismiss it. It’s very disheartening because I work with them, I know how much hard work they put in it,” she shares.
Celebrity fitness trainer Prashant Sawant has trained celebs like Shah Rukh Khan, Varun Dhawan, Ajay Devgn, Priyanka Chopra, Sunny Leone to name a few. He says, people have become more aware and conscious about their fitness over the last 15-20 years. “Everyone wants to look good in well-fitting clothes, they follow different diets,” he says. “Look at Varun Dhawan, he’s the most disciplined star kid I have seen. He has been around some of the fittest actors like Salman Khan and he pursued his fitness so well. Look at Arjun Kapoor who has transformed so wonderfully. Sara Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor, Suhana Khan they are all fitness freaks. They have all been inspired by their parents.”
Social media to blame
Celebrities and their kids enjoy a massive following on social media. But a double edged sword that it is, social media comes with its many cons. While there are fans that stars can connect with and amplify their digital clout, there are also haters who will leave no chance to pull them down. Dr Anjali Chabbria points out that star kids are being watched and followed from a very young age. “So even if they do something stupid, it is going to be picked up, it is going to be noticed and it is going to be spoken about. End of the day, there is a need for voyeurism. A star’s life is definitely interesting. There is an obsession with wanting to know what is happening in people’s lives,” she says.
“Social media has become such a great platform to reach out to people, but it’s also become a platform that’s leading a lot of youngsters to go into depression,” says Yasmin Karachiwala. “Because every youngster’s life today has this constant need to show their best, look their best, to put out the best thing, whether it’s dancing, whether it’s dressing. I feel like for star kids it’s even more so because they’re scrutinised in the public eye so much more. Anyway, celebrities were scrutinised by the media before social media came on, but social media made it easy to target someone, to say something negative. A lot of people also put out negative comments, because other people comment on it. It’s a way to start conversations and increase engagement, but people don’t realise how it affects the person reading it, who’s put out that post. We’ve become so insensitive through social media that we don’t think that when I am sharing my opinion so vocally, how am I affecting the person who’s actually made an effort to put something out.”
Dealing with trolls
The best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them. “One must not mind faceless trolls who are simple email ids and not real people,” says Shrenik Gandhi. “But if there is genuine negativity, one must be cognisant of it and make sure the feedback is taken in the right sentiment. Negativity says that society is democratic, But condescending negativity for the sake of affecting the mental health of celebrities speaks sadly of the state of affairs. One must of course have the right to have a choice of their looks, but be cognisant that if in a public platform, there might be positive or negative feedback.”
Shanthipriya recalls she was hurt when her child was trolled. “My child had to bear the brunt because I was in the public eye. If you choose to love yourself and ignore detractors, you will see these vile bubbles burst and you will emerge victorious,” she says.
“Have confidence in yourself and believe in yourself. Know that whatever you do, you do it from the heart, and don’t let anyone get you down. If you’re in this industry, you have to learn to live with it. You’ve chosen this life. And you know, the pros and cons that it comes with,” sums up Yasmin Karachiwala.