Bollywood icon Kajol has always stood apart in an industry obsessed with appearances. While many actors are relentlessly trolled for their looks, she believes she has been fortunate to escape harsh judgment. Loved by fans through every phase of her life, Kajol says she considers herself “one of the lucky ones.”

Kajol on being loved by the fans despite becoming fat

Opening up about how the audience has been kind to her through both her highs and lows, Kajol called herself one of the lucky ones and told News18, “I’ve fallen down, tripped, fired people, yelled, screamed, cried, gotten pregnant, become fat, become thin, cut my hair – basically anything that a person can do. And still I’m loved. The way people look at me is with a lot of love. They’re okay with me. They like me the way I am. That’s why I say that I’m probably one of the lucky ones, who’s loved but not judged as much.”

Kajol also addressed being called rude for losing her temper with paparazzi, “I actually have got a reputation to protect (laughs)! It’s something that sells for them. Main kisi aur ke pet pe kyun laat maaru? (Why should I kick away someone else’s livelihood?) If you’re making money out of these clips, then go ahead and make money. What else do I say?”

Recently, during the trailer launch of The Trial Season 2, Kajol wore a body-hugging short dress. When a paparazzo zoomed in on her body while covering the event, the actor faced body-shaming comments online. In her defence, Mini Mathur wrote, “How dare you zoom in on her body? She doesn’t owe you guys eternal youth. You don’t get to decide how she should look.”

Kajol’s upcoming work

Kajol will next reprise her role as lawyer Noyonika Sengupta in The Trial Season 2. The series, which also stars Jisshu Sengupta, Alyy Khan, Sheeba Chaddha, Kubbra Sait, Gaurav Pandey and Myra Singh, is set to premiere on 19 September on JioHotstar. Apart from this, she also has Maharagni: Queens of Queens in the pipeline.