Actor Vanita Kharat of Kabir Singh fame promotes body positivity

Actor Vanita Kharat who posed nude and lent her voice to the body positivity movement is receiving love and applause from netizens. It was part of a calendar photoshoot based on the theme of body positivity, conceptualised by Abhijit Panse, the maker of Thackery (2019).

In an exclusive interview with HerStory, Vanita said, "I was never hesitant because my thought behind this was clear that the stereotypes and fat-shaming in our society need to be broken."

Amplifying the movement with her picture on Instagram, she wrote, “I am proud of my talent, my passion, my confidence, I am proud of my body... because I am ME...!!!” It has garnered over 21,000 likes at the time of reporting.

Born and raised in Mumbai, Vanita has been associated with the Marathi film industry as part of the thriller Vicky Velingkar and reality show Maharashtrachi Hasya Jatra. Vanita was earlier seen in Kabir Singh, a Bollywood film starring Shahid Kapoor.

The body positivity movement seeks to challenge the way media portrays and society perceives ideal body types and promotes acceptance. Over the last couple of years, many women including Bollywood actor Vidya Balan and many social media influencers have driven the conversation around positive body image and self-love.

Although considered an American problem for a long time, a study conducted by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) showed that 77.6 percent of the 1220 young girls surveyed were dissatisfied with their bodies.

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In a previous exclusive interaction with YourStory Media, the actor-producer spoke on how people and society tend to impose their perception and standards of beauty and fat shame young girls and women. Celebrities like Sonakshi Sinha, Priyanka Chopra, and Sonam Kapoor have also been vocal of appreciating all body types.

Actor Ileana D'Cruz who has been criticised for her body had publicly said, "I don't have an 'awkward' body. Nobody does. I have been criticised for my body type, but I am trying to learn to love myself for who I am and not try to conform to someone else's ideals."

Social media has become a powerful platform to celebrate flawed and real beauty. Some notable plus-sized influencers like Naha Parulkar, Dipti Bharwani, and Amena Azeez are driving the discourse on body positivity.