Priya Mani Raj has openly spoken about being subjected to body shaming and skin colour shaming in the initial years of her career. But none of that could deter her spirits. Today, the internet, more than ever, has intensified their scrutiny on how many young actors have gone under the knife to adhere to the beauty standards of show business.
In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Priya Mani shares her thoughts on how actors have been opting for fillers and botox to look younger and more beautiful. “If you want to feel and look good, you can do what you want to achieve that. At the end of the day, it’s a personal choice. I’m in an industry where comparisons are bound to happen,” she states.
These comparisons, according to her, often come from family members too. “People will tell me why I can’t look like my contemporaries. This may come from family members, who might not mean it in a negative way to demotivate you. So, they won’t call you fat,” says the actor, who was recently seen in Ajay Devgn starrer Maidaan.
However, she’s quick to point out that south actors earlier never felt the need to ‘beautify’ themselves and peddle the idea of the ideal woman onscreen. “Today, our female actors are so fit and they’re so conscious of what they eat and how they look. But at one point, there were very few girls who were so conscious. They ate whatever they wanted to. The audience, in fact, liked actors who were healthier because who they saw onscreen was relatable. It’s only recently that conversations about being size zero or figure and skin conscious have gained ground,” Priya Mani remarks.
The Article 370 and The Family Man actor has never been told to change the way she looks despite being at the centre of body image conversations and she doesn’t want to call out those who have been resorting to surgeries and getting work done on their faces.
“They go to skin doctors and get themselves beautified, which is okay. If someone wants to make it big in the industry and wants to look flawless, they should do it. But I began my career in 2002. Back then, the south girls didn’t give in to meeting beauty standards. I’ve never been told by anyone to get botox or fillers done. Even if they did, I would probably shut them down or walk out of the film because I personally don’t believe in these things,” she asserts.
However, she recalls a phase of intense dieting while shooting for Drona before beginning the filming of Raavanan. “I don’t know what got into me but one fine day, I just told my mother that I want to start dieting. I didn’t do it for Drona or Raavanan or to look a certain way. It was a personal choice. I just wanted to see how my body reacts if I cut down on certain food items. At that point, I only remember having egg white scrambles with onions and mushrooms and boiled vegetables for lunch. But I never did crash dieting,” Priya Mani recalls.
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