Bollywood actors who were formerly referred to as ugly and not having conventional looks to fetch the lead role in a film. See what the actors had to say about the remarks made regarding their appearances below.
Anushka Sharma
Aditya Chopra, the head of YRF, told Anushka Sharma that although she was a gifted performer, her appearance wasn’t the best. During a previous episode of Koffee with Karan, Anushka talked about the incident and quoted Aditya. “He said I have a lot of belief in your talent and I think you are a very talented actress, but I don’t think you are very good looking. You’re not the most good looking girl, so you have to make sure that you work really hard.”
Ranveer Singh
Ranveer Singh also remembered Aditya Chopra giving him a “reality check” on his appearance. In 2022, Ranveer told Bollywood Hungama, “I used to think that I am good looking, but then Adi sir gave me a reality check at the beginning of my career. He was like, ‘You are good looking but not in a conventional way. You are not Hrithik Roshan, so better you act well.’”
Shah Rukh Khan
When Shah Rukh Khan portrayed antagonistic or anti-hero characters in Baazigar and Darr, he shot to fame. He once disclosed that he was called “ugly” and “ordinary” by a director. He stated, “There’s a wonderful director friend of mine, and he met me, and he said, ‘You are so ordinary and ugly looking’. Yeah, he told me on my face…”
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan also related the incident in which she was replaced in a movie and the producer made her feel unattractive. Vidya stated in an interview with Prabhat Khabar in 2022, “I was kicked out of 13 films. When one producer replaced me in a film, their behaviour with me was very bad. They made me feel so ugly that for six months, I could not gather the courage to look at myself in the mirror.”
Taapsee Pannu
In conversation with Cosmopolitan India in 2021, Taapsee Pannu shared, “It was the opposite of everything I was. I didn’t have those big ‘doe eyes’; I didn’t have an elegant, small nose… I had this large, ‘royal nose’, as people call it. I didn’t have luscious lips or straight, silky hair — you know, the kind that actresses flipped around. I had curly hair, and I remember noticing that none of the actresses on television had hair that looked like mine.”
Richa Chadha
Richa Chadha mentioned in a 2019 interview, “I am very cordial with my critics because how they write about me is their prerogative. In my initial days, I have had press call me ugly. They called me names for my appearance in a film where I was not required to look glamorous. An article was written on me, titled 10 things that one hates about Richa Chadha’ by a publication. If a journalist tries to belittle me, I would rather grow a thick skin, instead of taking the negativity to my heart. There is a difference between critiquing and being mean to someone, and I know that.”
Rajkummar Rao
Rajkummar Rao shared in an interview with Indian Today in the year 2022, “There was a time when I would never get to audition for hero’s role. I was told to audition for his friend’s role. I know I am not the most good-looking man in the room…”
