Sonam Kapoor’s journey into Bollywood began in 2007 with the romantic drama Saawariya, directed by Sanjay leela bhansali. Since then, she has become one of the most prominent actresses in the industry. But, looking back at her early days in the film world, Sonam had once shared how she faced the challenges of entering Bollywood during a time when beauty standards were changing rapidly, especially with the ‘size zero’ trend dominating the scene.
Deepika, Anushka were supermodels says Sonam
In an interview with Vogue India in 2022, Sonam revealed how she navigated these challenging beauty standards. At the time, Deepika and Anushka, both former models, were launching their film careers. “Around the same time, the size zero situation was happening. At the same time, there was Deepika, Anushka, they were all supermodels, who were debuting along with (me). They came from the modelling background,” Sonam explained.
Sonam, however, didn’t fit the mould of the petite, size-zero actresses who were dominating Bollywood at the time. She was tall—standing at 5’10” and, at the time, weighed around 86kgs. As she put it, “I am probably the same height as them, but I used to be 86kgs.”
The confidence to be different
While beauty standards were shifting, Sonam’s family played a huge part in helping her stay confident in herself. She recalled, “Before that generation, there were Aishwarya, Sushmita, or there were really petite girls like Rani, Bebo, Preity. They were petite. They were 5’3″ or 5’4″. I was like this big 5’10″ girl. And fortunately for me my family environment was so loving and gave me so much confidence.”
A lucky start with progressive directors
One of the things Sonam is particularly grateful for in her early career is the opportunity to work with progressive filmmakers. She spoke highly of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, both of whom embraced her unique features. Sonam remembered how Bhansali praised her looks, saying, “You look like an Ajanta painting. You are voluptuous, you are beautiful. And obviously you will lose your baby fat.”
Sonam mentioned that, while working as an assistant director on Bhansali’s Black (2005), she was gradually losing weight, but it wasn’t a conscious effort. “I was just working as an assistant director. And I was losing the weight and exercising for my health because I was diagnosed with PCOS.” she explained.
