Despite the successful box-office run of the comedy crime film Dhamaal 4, the movie has been met with an intense amount of backlash on the internet. One of the lead actors Anjali Anand, specifically, is facing harsh criticism from fans and social media personalities for allegedly sabotaging the body-positive message that she has been trying to promote through the acceptance of this fat-shaming character.
Commenting on a viral video regarding the issue, Anand made a confession about the difficult nature of her decision.
Why Is Anjali Anand Facing Backlash For Dhamaal 4?
The whole scandal started after the social media celebrity Soumya Dubey made a video exposing the hypocrisy in Anand’s career choices. In the video, Dubey juxtaposed an excerpt from the interview of Anand where she said, “If someone says that I am fat, then I say that they are ugly,” to the reality of how she looked in Dhamaal 4.
Dubey asserts that in all scenes where Anand appears in the movie, there is only one thing: cheap fat humor, including elephant sounds in the background. The question was raised on how someone who fights for plus-size representation agreed to be a joke.
The Reality of “Biting a Bitter Pill to Run My House”
Anjali Anand was not afraid of facing the criticisms. She provided an uncut account of how hard the journey is for plus-sized actresses in Bollywood through her comments on the influencer’s video. For Anand, taking up the job did not mean condoning the comedy but was a matter of necessity:
“Yes, my love. Because society still is ugly,” Anand wrote. “Nobody is going to write me a part until I put myself out there and show what I can do with my talent, so yes, I’m biting a bitter pill to run my house and put food on my table and taking up projects that I’m getting. I do not have an option to choose what I want to do and what not. There aren’t directors lining up for me to give me parts.”
Anand explained her opinion by saying that the characters chosen by actors are not necessarily the actors’ moral values. “Just because there is a serial killer in a movie doesn’t mean he endorses murder,” she said. She asked fans to concentrate on her acting talent instead of judging her choices.
Waiting Out the “Revolution”
Anjali stresses that she is in this for the long run. Though Anand despises the double-faced nature of the same audiences who cry foul over body-shaming gags while leaving abusive posts on her social media profiles, she knows that change is going to happen when she becomes too big to ignore.
As long as the casting scenario within Bollywood does not change, she is committed to being “the best damn fat girl” to grace the big screen.
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Sunny Singh is a Journalist and Content Writer with a strong affinity for Bollywood and Hollywood insiders, music and more. Somewhat of a writer and poet himself, he thrives on giving life to words and deliver all you need to know about the entertainment sector.
