We’ve all seen the clickbaity listicles. ‘Top 10 Bollywood Celebrities Who Went Slim from Fat’. ‘Bollywood Actresses Who Lost Fat After Experiencing Fat Shaming’. ‘Bollywood Actresses Who Need to Shape Up’. These are real headlines, featuring real people, who are at the top of their profession. Hollywood is no better. When Ashley Graham graced the cover of Sports Illustrated , there was a wave of backlash. Radio personality Howard Stern called Sam Smith fat, ugly and effeminate.
Sometimes, the world unites to fight back against such trolls, as shown in the case of Sean O’Brien, the Dancing Man. A post in 4chan (notorious for this kind of nasty behaviour), showed two photos of a large man: in the first, he is dancing, and in the second, he stands dejectedly in a corner. The caption read, “Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing.” A viral campaign to find him ensued, and he was flown from Liverpool to Los Angeles, where a huge party was thrown in his honour.
In an effort to harness this positive side of the Internet, city-based actress Mallika Angela Chaudhuri has started the #LoveEveryBody campaign, with a video titled ‘Rise Above’. The idea came about from her personal experiences with body image issues. “I’ve never fit into the skinny mould that’s dictated by popular media. But in every audition and photo shoot, there would be comments about how I could be so much better if I lost a few kilos. The focus was always on that, never on my acting. I started thinking about why other people should bother so much about how I look, when I was comfortable in my own skin,” she says.
And so Mallika scripted and directed the video, which was shot by Sembian Ranga Rajan V. and choreographed by Ashmini Balakrishnan. It encourages people to “rise above the ideals that are created by society. We’re talking to everyone who has ever looked in the mirror and asked ‘Why can’t I be perfect?’ But what is perfect? Who decides?” asks Mallika. “While looking up similar campaigns online, I came across so many inspiring stories. From those who were happy with their curves, to men who didn’t care for a six-pack, to the mother of three who wore a bikini to the beach and didn’t think twice about what other people would think. That kind of body positive message is lacking in our media and advertisements. It gives an unhealthy image to aspire to — it’s not just physically unhealthy, considering the majority of Indian body types simply cannot look like that, but also has a negative mental impact,” she adds.
The campaign calls for anyone who wants to spread the love and message to share a photo of themselves, with what they would like to say to those who have body-shamed them over the years as a caption. This can be emailed to loveeverybody13@gmail.com. They have also started a Ketto campaign to crowdfund a larger campaign in the city.
