In a boastful interview on BBC’s Asian Network Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is never short of an opinion, is heard saying she broke new ground by working in films through her pregnancy.
Says Ms Kapoor Khan, “A lot of people told me that they have never seen an Indian actress pregnant. Because every Indian actress, whenever they got pregnant went into hiding. Either they went to London or America, or they never left their houses. It’s because you can’t see her fat or you can’t see her bloated. Hands swell up, face swells up.”
The bit about pregnant actresses going into hiding is shockingly vain and ill-informed. So many actresses have worked in India while pregnant and without bouts of self-congratulations.The smashing Smita Patil was working right through her pregnancy, and in fact one of her films Kasam Paida Karnle Wale Ki wrote in her pregnancy into the script.
Kareena doesn’t have to look very far away from her home to see how an Indian actress can break stereotypes without feeling heroic about it. Kareena’s gorgeous mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore worked right through her pregnancy in the early 1970s. During the making of the film Choti Bahu Ms Tagore was carrying Saif. And during the making of Paap Aur Punya she was carrying Saif around the sets.
So this claim of actresses going into hiding in London and America is highly misleading especially since the interview is on a non-Indian media platform. Think of the impression you create about Indian cinema and its treatment of actresses each time you make such a misleading statement.
