Actor Rakul Preet Singh recently left her fans curious after her photo dump from London, where she was holidaying for the New Year’s, had a caption that spoke about food guilt. Ask about it and she shares, “I have always been into wellness, but there is a fine line before it becomes an obsession, which has happened with me in the past. I had to constantly tell myself, ‘It’s okay, you don’t have to check your weight daily’. This is the first time I’m speaking about it.”

The 34-year-old adds, “I felt that a lot of young girls will resonate with it. It’s not just about actors anymore; in this age of social media, Gen Z and the younger generations seek validation from how they look online. It’s all about how many likes a picture gets. I was reading a report about how so many young girls are bulimic or anorexic, and it led me to say that we all go through this guilt, and it’s okay. We need to talk about food depression among people, especially young girls.”

Singh admits that many young girls aspire for the physiques that female actors have and become body conscious. She says, “Young aspirational girls feel that actresses look wow. They should know that it’s a lot of work. Nobody is born like this. We all worry about that one pimple that’ll come up before a shoot; it’s human.”

The actor also points out people’s changing priorities due to societal expectations. “I have met young girls who say that they need to lose five kilos as there’s a wedding. They’ll stop eating, but you have to ask, is that wedding your priority or your life? I am not an expert to talk about it, but I feel that more food experts in India should talk about how young girls are going through this,” says Singh.

In her profession, does she constantly feel the pressure to meet these high beauty standards? “It depends on the kind of role you are playing. If you are doing a glamorous role, where you are supposed to look hot and sexy, you have to look like that. If I’m not doing justice to my role, I am not doing justice to my job,” she says.

She goes on to talk about not feeling the pressure of constantly looking a certain way: “As an actor, you are already putting yourself out there for scrutiny. So, you need to take it with a pinch of salt. Also, nobody is asking anybody to be extra lean or anorexic. You are just asked to be presentable, because it’s the demand of your profession.”