BENGALURU: Movie buffs might have seen a glam avatar of actor Shikha Talsania in her last film, Veere Di Wedding, but in reality, she is a true-blue jeans and T-shirt woman at heart. Talsania, who was in the city for the launch of a jewellery outlet on Saturday, is known for speaking her mind with a smile. She is an active speaker when it comes to body-shaming. In Veere Di Wedding, she played a character which went through issues especially about her body. “In VDW, body shaming was one of the many things that my character went through. We tend to zero down on body weight issues, probably because we all face it. It is an ever-prevalent issue,” says 30-year-old Talsania, who revealed that every moment with her co-actors in the movie was equally fun-filled, even behind the screen.
Touching on the subject of how relevant it is in movie industry, she says any industry works on talents more than looks. “I thought the industry was competitive about talent. I’m just an actor. I’m not a plus-size or a pretty actor. I am all of it – an actor,” she says. Ask her if there have been significant changes in Bollywood about acceptance of actors of any size and she adds, “We’re seeing the box expanding. And it is our responsibility as a collective to see all the aspects of a person rather than putting them in a box.”
Talsania’s last Instagram post was a rebellious one, where she is wearing a Kaftan with horizontal strips,
calling it a step against fashion gurus, who recommend vertical strips for plus-size people. Speaking to CE about her style, she says she hardly follows the dos and don’ts of fashion and depends a lot on accessorising. “I personally depend on my accessories to make my outfit. Actually, I depend on my accessories to transform me into the person that I want to be that day. That one black tee and jeans could be a different look everyday with different accessories,” she states.
Talsania, daughter of actor Tiku Talsania, entered Bollywood with Wake up! Sid in 2009, for which she got rave reviews. She was also featured in Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji and Midnight’s Children. She also debuted on the digital platform with the web series, Gormint. But her 2019 release, VDW, alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar got her all the limelight that was long overdue. “I am currently busy with Coolie No. 1. that is releasing in May 2020, which will be followed by myupcoming web series on Amazon Prime. There is a lot of theatre that always keeps me occupied,” says Talsania. Her upcoming movie stars Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan and is directed by David Dhawan, and is the remake of the 1995 film of the same name.