Malaal Actress Sharmin Segal’s Confession About Being Fat Shamed Is Sad But Also Very Relatable!

Growing up, as natural as it may be, is not easy. It’s easy if you fall in the category of ‘regular’. And by that I mean, fair, average build and excelling at something. But if you aren’t. If your complexion, body, nature or sexual orientation is a departure from any of these, you will be subject to ridicule. And I would know. For the most part, school was a blast, most of the time I mean, because at other times, like every other kid, I was also picked on. And while for me, it was because I had dusky skin, others like Malaal actress, Sharmin Segal, were picked on for being fat.

In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, the actress shared her experiences ffom when she was a plump kid and was constantly made fun of. She said, “I was really fat for 13-14 years of my life. There were kids in school who used to make fun of me from the ages of 11-18, until I graduated from school.” She further went on to talk about how that experience somewhere led her to the acting industry, “I took theatre in school at the age of 17, Meezaan was in my class. I had an end-of-year performance, where they made me a man. You know how they have those caricature fat friend-type characters? Meezaan was the doctor and I was his assistant.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByaW0S0lWxS/

She continued saying, “It was my first performance ever. I had never done acting before that. I looked into the audience and those three boys that used to make fun of me throughout my school life were laughing. In that moment, mujhe laga ki woh mujhpe nahi, character pe has rahe hai. That made me feel ki acting is something special. It can make you feel like not yourself. At that moment in my life, I wanted to be anything but fat Sharmin.” And honestly, reading this, I could empathise with the 17-year-old little girl who was so impacted by what others thought of her. The shame of being fat so strong and so wanting to not be slotted because of just that. It’s the kind of stuff that resonated with all us.

Of course now it doesn’t matter, I am one of the most confident looking dusky girls on the block, and you’d not know that Sharmin Segal had problems like us but there was a time when it did bother me. And I am pretty sure that there was a time when it did bother Sharmin too and millions of other kids who are subjected to such bards. We can laugh it off, ask the kid to take it as a joke but in reality it can become the reason for them to second guess themselves at a young and tender age, leading to some serious insecurities.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByR2bKKFFjA/

Sharmin also said, “People say body-shaming and all that is wrong, and you should be confident of your body, but I wasn’t. After being bullied for 15 years of my life, I wasn’t confident. People have asked me, ‘Is it wrong to be fat and an actor?’ I said, ‘No. If you are happy and confident, and you can look into a mirror in the morning and say haan main achchi lag rahi hoon, then that’s your personal choice.”

And, the thing that almost no one understands how hurtful such things could be. I could be chocolate brown or vanilla white, Sharmin could be slim and trim or curvy, why does it have to matter to anyone? Shaming someone for who they are or how they look is perhaps one of the most shallow-minded things ever. People need to get over the pathetic standards they’ve set for beauty. The notion that there is only one kind of beautiful needs to be set on fire.

And while we feel for what Sharmin went through, we are glad that she’s now stepping into Bollywood for her debut, Malaal, that is set to hit the screens this Friday!