5 Times When Sonam Kapoor Was So Much More Than An Actress Or A Fashionista

When it comes to celebrities, there is a weird tendency at play. Celebrities, especially Bollywood celebrities are either treated with too much lenience or judged and criticized a little too harshly. One person who has usually had the rougher end of the bargain is Sonam Kapoor.

Yes, people have loved her in films like Neerja and Raanjhanaa and she has redefined the word fashionista in Bollywood, but time and again she has been branded as a ditzy, foot-in-the-mouth blondie who cannot be taken seriously. But the truth is Sonam is really an intelligent and knowledgeable woman who has made a lot of sense in many of her interaction.

From being a proud feminist to busting the myth of flawlessness, here are 5 time we loved Sonam for the person that she is and not for her fashion.

Sonam Is One Person Who Bravely Acknowledges Her Privileges

“I live in this beautiful house, I don’t have to pay my bills, and I have more luxury of choice than a regular girl joining this industry. So it is more of a responsibility for me to make these unconventional choices”

Calling A Spade A Spade

“I'm honest. If someone asks about my weight loss, I tell them I have five people working on me, plus there's Photoshop. I tell them I can't eat everything and look good. I was unhealthy when I was fat, and now I'm a normal body type. I'm not special; I'm just an actress, and boys and girls are intelligent enough to recognize that.”

A Proud Feminist Who Really Gets It

“People don’t understand the meaning of feminism. Feminism is saying that we are all equal. The right to fight for what you think is right belongs to everyone. The term feminist not only applies to women but men as well because feminism is not just a female-centric term. The idea of feminism is to fight for equality for women for their rights, to say that they need equal opportunity and to make sure they come up in society in the right way.”

On Me Too Movement

“We are definitely trivialising it (MeToomovement). If you have to, you have to do it with a lot of thought. And you have to do it...because it's become watered down now. It's all gone and unfortunately, it is the way it is. We need to be a little more careful about the accusation and articles. The media doesn't realise how powerful it can be,”

Busting The Myth Of Flawlessness, Once And For All

Please know that nobody wakes up like this. Not me. Not any other actress. (Not even Beyoncé. I swear.)

Here’s the real deal: Before each public appearance, I spend 90 minutes in a makeup chair. Three to six people work on my hair and makeup, while a professional touches up my nails. My eyebrows are tweezed and threaded every week. There’s concealer on parts of my body that I could never have predicted would need concealing.

I’m up at 6am every day and at the gym by 7:30. I exercise for 90 minutes and, some evenings, again before bed. It’s someone’s full-time job to decide what I can and cannot eat. There are more ingredients in my face packs than in my food. There’s a team dedicated to finding me flattering outfits. After all that, if I’m still not “flawless” enough, there are generous servings of Photoshop.

I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it: It takes an army, a lot of money, and an incredible amount of time to make a female celebrity look the way she does when you see her. It isn’t realistic, and it isn’t anything to aspire to. Aspire, instead, to giving your body as much sleep as it needs. Aspire to finding a form of exercise that’s actually fun for you to do. Aspire to knowing your body and how to live well in it.

Aspire to confidence. Aspire to feeling pretty and carefree and happy, without needing to look any specific way. And the next time you see a 13-year-old girl gazing wistfully at a blemish-free, shiny-haired Bollywood actress on a magazine cover, bust the myth of flawlessness for her. Tell her how beautiful she is. Praise her smile or her laugh or her mind or her gait. Don't let her grow up believing that she's flawed, or that there's anything she's lacking for looking different from a woman on a billboard. Don’t let her hold herself to a standard that’s too high, even for the women on the billboards. Tell her I definitely didn’t wake up like this. She won’t either. And that’s totally, completely fine.