Back in the early 90s when Kajol started her Bollywood career, it didn’t take her too long to gain an audience for herself. At just 18, she did her first commercial hit Baazigar and earned a huge fan following. But it didn’t stop there and the Kajol-mania only intensified post the roaring success of DDLJ.
So what is it about the actress that continues to win hearts to date? The fact that she gloriously shattered almost every stereotype attached to the idea of a leading lady in Bollywood! After all, the actress entered Bollywood at a time when most of her contemporaries were making it to the industry right after their beauty pageant wins. The stereotype of ‘slim, fair, tall’ women being the most desirable of them all was just beginning to solidify. One bubbly smile here, one unibrow there and Kajol had effectively surpassed all stereotypes in no time. And for that, we will always be thankful to her.
However, was she doing it on purpose? Was she actually feeling beautiful as she went on changing our perceptions of beauty? In a recent interview with Netflix, Kajol opened up on the topic and shared how it took her years before she could finally feel “beautiful.”
She said during the interview, “The idea of seeing the beauty in imperfection is something my grandmother tried to instill in me at a very young age. She was considered one of the great beauties of her time, but she always told me, ‘It’s my slight cockeye that makes me beautiful!’ Yet, it was many years before I could look at myself in the mirror and go, ‘You are beautiful!’. Don’t get me wrong – I was very confident in my skin growing up. There were many adjectives I applied to myself: attractive, smart, cool, sexy even. But I didn’t consider myself beautiful.”
Further speaking on how a lot of these insecurities came from society’s stereotypical idea of beauty and how all of it was being projected at her. “A lot of it had to do with what everybody was spouting at that time. It took me a long time to arrive at ‘beautiful’,” she shared.
That said, the actress has surely come a long way since then and feels every bit beautiful now. “Today, it’s an entirely different thing. I don’t mean to sound conceited but I often catch myself in the mirror or in a selfie and I’m like, ‘Wow… I’m stunning! I hope women everywhere are having similar conversations with themselves.”
Well, so do we! Here’s hoping that everyone who has ever been weighed down by the stereotypical ideas of beauty and perfection knows that they are every bit beautiful, irrespective of what society has to say about it.
Psst…just like us, love Kajol’s radiant skin? Here’s how you can get it too:
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Featured Image: Instagram
