More than her movies, brave as they are, the Hindi film industry will perhaps be grateful to Vidya Balan for something bigger — changing the narrative about women in an otherwise male-dominated Bollywood. In her 16-year career, she has shunned the rules of the game to chart her success story. So, it is only fitting that Balan has again taken the lead to rewrite the rules when it comes to the glamour industry. She has issued a strict policy that her pictures will not be subjected to Photoshop, touch-ups or filters.

In the past three months, the actor shot for three magazine covers, where she categorically instructed that her images would not be slimmed down to meet the industry’s unrealistic beauty standards. Celebrated photographer Dabboo Ratnani, who shot with her two weeks ago, says, “I try to achieve the best lighting on the set itself, thus relying as little as possible on the post-treatment of pictures. [Doing so is] all the more important with Vidya because she doesn’t like her images to be re-touched. She is comfortable in her own skin, and doesn’t want to be made slimmer for pictures. During magazine shoots, she tells the editorial team that the photos should only be colour-corrected and shared, without any retouching.”

The ace lensman says that post-treatment is restricted to the background. “Say, if the flooring or the leaves in the background need colour correction, we do that. We don’t retouch her image.”

Balan’s journey hasn’t been easy — after being body-shamed in the initial years of her career, the actor learnt “to accept myself a little more each day”. Knowing that millions across the country deal with body-image issues, she has since used her star status to advocate body positivity and self-love. 

Photographer Atul Kasbekar says Balan is one of those rare people completely in tune with themselves. “As a photographer, it is refreshing to see someone have an inner, contented glow. She looks effortlessly elegant without any external aid like Photoshop or touch-up.”

In what is reflective of an attitude shift around the globe, the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK recently barred influencers from using misleading filters in beauty ads.