By Ila Sankrityayan
Budapest [Hungary], June 18 : Body shaming and remarks on a person's physical appearance have been no new feat. Women are expected to have a perfectly toned body, and especially in the entertainment industry, actresses are constantly under scrutiny for their looks and are often subjected to severe criticism and brutal trolling.
Welsh actress Banita Sandhu, who is known for her roles in 'October' and 'Sardar Udham', opened up about body shaming and revealed how she was once criticised for being too skinny.
In a conversation with ANI, she recalled the incident of being body-shamed and how it affected her, "I remember getting body shamed when I did a South Indian movie. I remember people calling me ugly because I looked like a twig. And how could the co-star be attracted to me in the movie because I was so skinny. That was the first time I think I experienced body shaming. But at the same time, it was this weird, it almost felt like a simulation because it was happening online. I don't know how to explain it. And it was from a culture that was something I hadn't grown up in."
Banita continued, "So I didn't feel as closely offended or criticised by it. I was like, oh, okay, the beauty standard in this region is different to what I look like. And that's just how I took it. I didn't take it to heart. Like, oh, my God, I need to gain so much weight now. And I'm because I'm naturally very skinny, you can literally ask any producer I've worked with, like I eat the most on set."
However, she suggested facing such criticisms without getting affected by them, "So it wasn't something like it was the first time I experienced something like that. But also, I think with anything online, you just can't take it seriously... you really can't."
Sandhu was born and brought up in Caerleon, Wales. She made her film debut with the 2018 Shoojit Sircar directorial 'October', starring Varun Dhawan. This was followed by the American TV series 'Pandora', and the Tamil film 'Adithya Varma', both in 2019. She was later seen in 'Sardar Udham'.
The ace star said, "I was incredibly blessed. It was one of those things that, it was like a domino effect, and everything kind of just fell into place, and to have, your first movie with a director like that, too, it's a blessing and a curse, because it's a blessing to have your first movie with a director like that, but it's a curse in a sense that you really realise what a privilege it is to have a director like that for your first movie, and it's hard to get back there again."
Sandhu is gearing up for her next project, 'Detective Sherdil', starring Diljit Dosanjh. She opened up about sharing the screen space with Diljit and her role in the film.
While speaking about her experience in the film, she said, " My experience of working on Detective Shield was... I think it was the funnest time I've ever had on a movie set, honestly. I had the best time. It was incredible working with an ensemble cast like this, and we shot in Budapest, and it was so beautiful, and I really had a blast on this one."
She added, "I think one of the main challenges for me was... I'm an actor who likes to have sufficient time to prep. I came on board of this movie like two weeks before they started shooting, so I didn't have much time, but we kind of just went into like intensive modes, and really went in on rehearsals, and workshops. I felt supported, because my character is deaf, and for that there had to be a lot of research, and rehearsal, and also kind of observation as well, and understanding your scenes, so that those technicalities don't come in the way of you acting when you're on set."
Banita, who featured in the music video 'Jindh Mahi', alongside Diljit Dosanjh in 2018, shared her working experience with her in the movie.
"The great thing with Diljit is he is exactly the same as when I worked with him for the first time, as he was the second time. He is a kind of person who just keeps his head down, and he focusses, and he has a great work ethic, and incredible discipline, and I'm not surprised to see that he's gotten to where he has, because I've seen him put in the work over all of these years, so it's really fortunate for me to get to witness... someone who was really on the rise, and now to see them in like superstardom, it's incredible. We made several reels on the sets," she added.
While praising Dosanjh for his style statement, the 'Adithya Varma' actor said, "He's the best-dressed man in India, hands down."
The film boasts a stellar ensemble cast including Diana Penty, Boman Irani, Ratna Pathak Shah, Chunky Panday, Sumeet Vyas, Kashmira Irani, and others. It is directed and edited by Ravi Chhabriya.
The film is set to premiere on Zee5 on June 20, 2025.