Twinkle Khanna recalls eating only chickpeas for 'Baadshah', says most actresses starved themselves

Former actor talks about her own experience in Bollywood and unrealistic beauty standards that persist

Former Bollywood actor Twinkle Khanna recently opened up about the extreme measures she and her contemporaries took to maintain the ideal on-screen appearance during her acting career. In a candid conversation with Shrayana Bhattacharya on Suitable Conversations, Twinkle disclosed the challenges she faced while shooting the song Mohabbat Ho Gayee for the film Baadshah, starring Shah Rukh Khan.

Twinkle's revelation sheds light on the unspoken reality of the film industry, where the pressure to conform to societal beauty standards often led actresses to resort to drastic dieting. In the interview, Twinkle admitted to depriving herself of essential nutrients, surviving on a diet primarily consisting of chickpeas. 

She humorously described her diet as a result of her own "brainwave," attributing it partly to her Gujarati roots, considering chickpeas to be both economical and easily accessible. Twinkle humorously recalled feeling like a "gas canister" during the shoot and expressed anxiety about bursting at the seams due to her strict diet. 

“I know you see all these actresses saying that they don’t diet and they eat everything; it’s not true, most of them are starving. I was starving,” she remarked. “if you want your stomach to be flat in all those catsuits that we used to wear—I don’t know why we wore them. This was my own brainwave that I’m going to live on channa. For some reason, being Gujarati, I felt that was also cheap, and you know, I could get it easily wherever I went. So, this was my diet.”

Twinkle also shared the challenge of performing a scene where Shah Rukh had to lift her, fearing she might "explode". Despite her apprehensions, she managed to pull it off successfully. “In this song he had to lift me up, and I was so scared that I would explode like the gas canisters in the Parliament, but I didn’t. So if you see my teeth clenching there, other things are also clenching and just holding on, but yes, I survived that bit as well.”

Reflecting on the response to her performance in Badshah, Twinkle noted the lack of criticism for the overtly focused reviews on her physical appearance. She revealed, "I did have a review from that movie which only centred around my navel, that was it. And at that time, nobody protested; this was perfectly fine. We didn’t think it was misogynistic. In fact, I think I thanked the writer."

Badshah, directed by Mustan Burmawalla and Abbas Burmawalla, featured an ensemble cast including Shah Rukh Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Rakhee Gulzar, Johnny Lever, and Amrish Puri. Twinkle transitioned from acting to becoming a successful author, recently releasing her fourth book titled "Welcome to Paradise." The book comprises a collection of stories exploring themes of heartbreak, relationships, and deception.

Twinkle Khanna's candid revelation not only offers a glimpse into the challenges faced by actresses in the past but also raises important questions about the unrealistic beauty standards prevalent in the film industry. As conversations around body image and representation gain momentum, Twinkle's honesty adds a valuable perspective to the ongoing discourse.

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