Shaheen Bhatt Opens Up About Being Being Body-Shamed as a Child

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posted on 5 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Shaheen Bhatt, author and screenwriter, is filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's elder daughter with Soni Razdan.

Years after being asked to step aside from a photoshoot for being "dark" and a "little overweight", Shaheen Bhatt, elder sister of Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt, continues to find being discriminated against emotionally crippling.

In an interview to Rajeev Masand, Shaheen has opened up about her battle with depression, which something which she had also talked about in her debut book, I've Never Been (un)Happier.

Shaheen felt "uncomfortable" when the interviewer asked her about an incident she had described in the book.

"Once you and Alia, your younger sister went to a photoshoot with your elder sister, Pooja Bhatt and at some point the photographer asked you to leave the picture because the two of them looked similar—they were fair, cute and you were dark having spent too much time in the sun and you were a little overweight. And you said that till date, looking at those pictures cripples you emotionally," the interviewer said to Shaheen.

To which she responded, "It is making me uncomfortable right now. The fact that you are talking about it, is making me uncomfortable. I think women in general suffer from a lot of body image and lot of things we are told by media, by ourselves, it is a problem in general. Shame is definitely a cause for depression, it can be for any reason."

"My self-worth was definitely affected as I was at an age where the seeds of that were being sown in me. I was just trying to figure out who I was and obviously when something like this happens to you at such an unsure and uncertain time in your life, it sort of reinforces that and sets in stone in a way," she added.

Shaheen, author and screenwriter, is filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's daughter with Soni Razdan.

Alia said she was proud of Shaheen for speaking through her heart. "My sister is so so so intelligent and even though I know most of these things she has mentioned, she still manages to shake and move me with her honesty," the Highway actor said.

Their mother Soni was also moved. "Darling Shaheen you have to be the most courageous girl I know. Not only did you write your book but you went through a lot to do so," she wrote.