Ritabhari Chakraborty: It’s time to move towards breaking the shackles of body shaming

It’s been more than a year since Ritabhari Chakraborty had to undergo two back-to-back surgeries. And now, after enduring the physical and mental stress for all these months, the bubbly actress is all charged up and ready to move on.

Ritabhari Chakraborty turns a plus-size model for her next film 'Fatafati'

Ritabhari will be playing a regular small-town tailor who has an ardent interest in fashion in her next film ‘Fatafati’. But given that she's on the heavier side, she has to struggle with society's judgment every single day. But her character has a hidden secret - she lives a dual life! What happens when her passion collides with her everyday societal struggle? This Aritra Mukherjee directorial aims to rise above conventions and shatter glass ceilings, empowering women across the country.

Sharing his thought on ‘Fatafati’s unique concept the actress says she has always felt strongly about the subject of body positivity and raised her voice. “It is about time we establish that you don't have to be a certain stereotypical body type to be seen in a fashion magazine! Together, we need to move towards breaking the shackles of body shaming and transform the perception of diverse body types. I am excited for the film to go on floors. With our previous film Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti we broke gender stereotypes and our next film will highlight the aspects of body positivity," the actress shared with ETimes while attending the 5th Filmfare Bangla Awards recently.

Speaking about the tough time she had to go through after surgery Ritabhari reveals, “I still struggle to come up with one specific answer like - “Fine”, “Good” probably because I still deep down don’t believe that the worst is over. Honestly, I AM FINE. I was not for a very long period of time. It took me months of healing both physically and mentally to finally accept it that it was a rough time and I have to let it go now. I did not stop working in that period - finishing a film, carrying out my endorsements and attending my UCLA classes early in the morning because I was too afraid to fall behind. They tell you “life is a race!” But do they ever tell you where is the finish line? What amount of success can justify the Pain of being hospitalized, losing relationships or losing yourself for that matter? No they don’t and no one will ever tell you because we are all too busy living the good life on social media.”

“There are actors who still refuse a film if its subject is women-oriented. Even when we did Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti we faced a similar situation. I don’t understand this mentality. Tell me, if Shah Rukh Khan does a woman-centric film will it hamper his stardom? No, certainly not. For instance, in ‘Fatafati’, the male lead character has a significant role to play. When Abir Chattopadhyay agreed to do the film he said even he and his wife had to face trolling and that’s why he was keen to work on a film that has a subject like this,” shared Ritabhari.

Sharing her views on body positivity she added, “It is not worth putting yourself at the edge to come across as achievers in front of other people. I should have taken rest. I should have let it go for a bit. But 6 months of grinding while I was in pain gave me 6 more months of depression to struggle with which I found much harder to overcome. Not worth it. Don’t make the mistakes I did - was I strong to show up at work with pain? Yes. Was I foolish to do it? Yes again. Nothing is worth losing yourself for.”