Actor and pageant queen Manushi Chhillar attended a conclave titled The Beauty of Business by NDTV. While there, the actor who won the Miss World 2017 pageant opened up about the beauty standards in society and how she and fellow pageant queen, Harnaaz Sandhu, could not escape body shaming. Here’s what she said.

Manushi Chhillar opens up about facing body shaming

Manushi commented on body shaming and the unrealistic beauty standards set for women, which often cause stress. When asked if such ‘physical’ beauty standards play a role in winning pageants, the actor-model was persistent in saying ‘absolutely not’.

However, opening up about the body shaming she has faced since coming to the limelight, she said, “When Harnaaz (Kaur Sandhu) and I couldn’t escape these body-shaming comments, then what can you say? It is just present in our society. But it has nothing to do with beauty pageants.” She also added, “Sometimes it is good to shut out the outside noise. Because if you start listening to others’ opinions, you will never be happy. It does not matter what the whole world thinks about you, but what you think about yourself, and the self-love and self-care you have towards yourself, should always be protected.”

Manushi mentioned that such comments didn’t bother her ‘much’ when she was a medical student, but they grew louder when she became Miss World, chalking it down to ‘insecurity’ from strangers.

Recent work

Manushi debuted in Bollywood with the 2022 Akshay Kumar-starrer Samrat Prithviraj. This year, she had two releases—Maalik with Rajkummar Rao and Tehran with John Abraham. Harnaaz, who was a semifinalist at Femina Miss India 2019 and won Miss Universe 2021, faced several body-shaming comments after she won the title. She was criticised for putting on weight, which she chalked up to her health. Harnaaz debuted in Bollywood this year with Baaghi 4, co-starring Tiger Shroff.