Fit is the new sexy: Parineeti Chopra

Parineeti Chopra is like an oenomel: someone who has the right combination of strength and sweetness. In her fitter-than-ever state of mind and body, the Ambala girl talks about her inner strength, weight issues and cinematic ambitions.

Whenever someone steps into the outside world as a fat person, or their weight has noticeably fluctuated, onlookers are not shy to criticise. And India is not far behind when it comes to body shaming. But if you look at Parineeti’s past from the time that she had entered the industry with super hits like Ladies vs Ricky Bahl and Ishaqzaade to present day, her being vocal/open-about-my-body graph went on from being ‘I am absolutely content with myself’ to ‘this is who I am’ to being slightly conscious about her weight, then acknowledging the issue and finally taking on the challenge to emerge as a winner, a Phoenix.

“It was not that I was in denial about my body issue,” clarifies Parineeti who was here on a brand promotional tour. “It was just that I was tired of it, I have struggled with how I look, feel and how people looked at me all my life. Everyone has a ‘wake-up call’ moment and mine has been now. I am more than content with myself and I am happier than ever before. I feel confident and proud of myself,” she adds.

She has proven her (acting) mettle with Shuddh Desi Romance, Hasee Toh Phasee and more. Till now none have been able to point a finger at her acting capabilities but many have criticised Chopra’s recent drastic weight loss by saying that she has succumbed to Bollywood’s preference for skinny girls.

However, the actress looks at it at from a different perspective, saying, “It was a personal calling. I have finally been able to achieve what I wasn’t able to achieve or address in the past. I would suggest, people should reduce the emphasis on words like ‘thin’ and ‘skinny’ and increase or extend their vocabulary usage to ‘fit’. Fit is the new sexy. I still eat and enjoy my food. I don’t like anything that’s not spicy or chatpata. What’s different now is that I make it a point to work out. I don’t think people need to starve their way out or stop eating things that they love and relish so much in order to lose weight. I just feel, we should keep a check on the amount of intake, what we eat, how we eat and how we justify what we eat by exercising properly. It’s a lifestyle change.”

When questioned if, at this point, she was offered her dream role and asked to put on weight to portray a character, will she do it? “No,” asserts the actress and quickly explains, “I mean, not now. Maybe in the far future…like say…10 years? I am not going to jeopardise what I have right now. But I am open to such offers.”