Sobhita Dhulipala has said that there is a certain 'colonial hangover' when it comes to beauty standards in our film industry. She was speaking with The Quint in an interview when Sobhita shared her views on how she tried to mould herself to find work during her initial days in the film industry. (Also read: Zeenat calls Sobhita 'a vision, albeit a complicated one' in Made in Heaven 2)
‘Colonial hangover’
Sobhita said, “When I was auditioning for ads, the idea of beauty that existed which was a bit narrow-minded. And, I was so young that I was not thinking about whether they were right or wrong. But, I was trying to find ways to mould myself so as to find work.”
She then added that she has been fortunate to have found projects such Made In Heaven in which she featured as Tara - a middle-class woman - who is not supposed to have that conventional beauty. She also lauded filmmaker Zoya Akhtar for casting someone who does not fall in that category of conventional beauty.
Asked if that kind of prejudice bothered her, Sobhita said it simply helped her and forced her to make better choices - have a better personality with substance and make choices that matter.
What is conventional beauty?
She then went on to wonder if she knew what defines conventional beauty. “I am not even sure what is the conventional beauty...what is conventional actually what light eyes maybe. I don't even know how many Indians actually have light eyes but I'm not saying that is the standard, but there is a slightly colonial hangover when it comes to beauty. As an audience, I could not relate to that. Many of my heroes have looked separate from that. Like a Vyajayantimala, I do not know what category you put her in. Rekha ji. Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Smita Patil, Priyanka Chopra, Tabu, and Vidya Balan. All these women. They are all glamorous, charming, sexy, good-looking, and had a personality. These were my inspiration and I do not see how their looks came in the way of their success.”
Deepika's south Indianness comforted her
{{/usCountry}}She then went on to wonder if she knew what defines conventional beauty. “I am not even sure what is the conventional beauty...what is conventional actually what light eyes maybe. I don't even know how many Indians actually have light eyes but I'm not saying that is the standard, but there is a slightly colonial hangover when it comes to beauty. As an audience, I could not relate to that. Many of my heroes have looked separate from that. Like a Vyajayantimala, I do not know what category you put her in. Rekha ji. Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Smita Patil, Priyanka Chopra, Tabu, and Vidya Balan. All these women. They are all glamorous, charming, sexy, good-looking, and had a personality. These were my inspiration and I do not see how their looks came in the way of their success.”
Deepika's south Indianness comforted her
{{/usCountry}}Sobhita added that now she believes in herself and ensures she stays true to herself instead of fitting in any mould. She also recalled how seeing the ‘south Indianness of Deepika Padukone’s beauty in Om Shanti Om' comforted her as a young girl. She added that dusky skin should be celebrated, ‘now more than ever’.
Sobhita's career
Having made her debut with Anurag Kashyap's Raman Raghav 2.0, Sobhita got her claim to fame with Zoya Akhtar's web series Made In Heaven. Two seasons of the show have had successful premieres on Prime Video.
Sobhita was most recently seen in Prime Video's The Night Manager 2 - a remake of the British show by the same name.
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