Anil Kapoor on the agony of watching one’s children grapple with body image issues which is also addressed in his upcoming musical drama
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 21, 2018)

In a recent interview to Mirror (July 16), Pihu Sand, the 20-year-old Mumbai girl who plays Anil Kapoor and Divya Dutta’s daughter, Lata, in the upcoming musical drama, Fanney Khan, had revealed that she added 20 kg to tip the scales at 98 kg, the heaviest she’s ever been, for her acting debut. The news comes as a surprise to Anil who was bowled over by Pihu’s confidence and histrionics during their first workshop at his residence. “Having seen the original Belgian film, Everybody’s Famous!, I knew this was a tricky bit of casting but after meeting Pihu I knew instantly that she was our Lata. When I see talent, everything else pales into insignificance, including someone’s physicality,” says the actor.

While chasing Lata’s dream, the film touches on weight issues and the culture of body-shaming, concerns which are not new to Anil whose actress-daughter, Sonam, a style icon today, weighed 86 kg in her teens. He attributes this to the pangs of being parted from her parents when she went to Singapore to study. “Those 3-4 years were traumatic for her and when she returned home, I was shocked. The way she walked, the agony of climbing stairs, the misery on her face, broke my heart,” he recalls.

Being from the film industry, Anil knew his children, Sonam, Rhea and Harshvardhan, would be subjected to scrutiny and criticism growing up and so always told them they are beautiful in their own unique way and nothing should change that. “To be honest, I could not have imagined Sonam’s deep concerns with her appearance, because to me she has always been flawless,” he avers, admitting the full extent of what his daughter had gone through since the age of 13 only hit him recently when he read an interview of hers in which she confessed to spending hours in front of the mirror scrutinizing her appearance and coming up short.

Sonam had no plans to become an actress when she started assisting Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “She was still on the heavier side and seemingly unconcerned during the shooting of Black but perhaps Sanjay saw the beautiful girl beneath that ungainly body and offered to launch her in Saawariya,” reminisces Anil.

She went on a strict diet and fitness routine for a whole year and lost 35 kg, but the insecurity remained. She continued to experiment with every diet, from Atkins to South Beach, and every fitness routine, from spinning to power yoga, a single uncomplimentary remark making her go off food. Stardom didn’t make it any easier. The slightest blemish would be highlighted in photographs and articles which mercilessly sliced through her wavering self esteem. “Body-shaming is a curse and really hurts our kids,” points out Anil, informing that according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders at least 30 million of all ages and genders in the US suffer from eating disorders, resulting in at least one death every 62 seconds. “Sonam has always been perfect and flawless in my eyes and I couldn’t be happier that she is healthy and content with herself today. When it comes to beauty, we need to shift the focus from physicality to personality. Women who are smart, intelligent, empathetic, determined and accomplished are beautiful. And that is the kind of beautiful Sonam is.”

Fortunately Sonam had a friend, Namrata Soni, and her sister, Rhea, who boosted her self-esteem and made her comfortable in her skin. Anil describes Rhea as a firebrand and asserts that he has never met anyone more confident and self-assured. “She knows who she is and is always true to herself. I’ve never seen her falter. She is the best kind of beautiful and she knows that,” he beams.

He also never had to tell Harsh what to do or how to do it as his son has always followed his heart and instincts. “Harsh is an old soul. He is my youngest son but in some ways he’s the wisest,” he states.

Arjun, who like his other nieces and nephews is one of his kids too, had a problem with his weight till he got in shape. “The credit for that goes to Salman (Khan). When his dad (brother Boney) showed me his new pictures, I was pleasantly surprised and so proud,” Anil flashbacks, adding it is important not to push kids into anything, recalling how Sonam had quietly sought out his trainer Sherveer. “The voice has to come from within,” he says wisely, narrating how Sherveer helped him look good for a suhaag raat scene in Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain with a years younger Kajol after shooting through the night for Pukar.

Air-brushing and photo-shopping are alien concepts that Anil has managed to evade so far by staying healthy and disciplined. “When we were shooting 'Badan Pe Sitare Lapate Hue' recently, a special effects team was kept ready to clean up the frames which eventually wasn’t necessary and we saved a lot of money,” he says, pointing out that last year, France implemented a new law whereby it’s become mandatory to label media images that are digitally altered for commercial purposes to make models look thinner as a ‘retouched photo’. “The time has come to redefine the popular concept of beauty and end body shaming. My film addresses this and that makes it special. My kids are strong, confident, independent people with minds of their own. That will always be my biggest legacy,” he says.