Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal were spotted at a city event
Simply stops looking like the 25-year-old version of herself? Because she had given birth Which raises a rather absurd question: Does a woman have to sleep with a beauty crown on her head for the rest of her life, patralekhaa took to social media to call out insensitive remarks about her body, reminding people that it had changed. Because biologically there are so many changes that you go through, your hormones are crashing and your mental space is somewhere else, initially, it’s the chaos inside you. Because we are very good at celebrating the baby.
Recent pictures of the actor, looking like a perfectly normal new mother, have triggered the familiar commentary — “she has put on weight”, “she doesn’t look like herself”, “she should get back in shape”. She said, “When you’re pregnant, everyone goes like, ‘Oh my God, you’re glowing, this, that. What if our question changed from “How much weight has a woman gained?” to “What support does a new mother actually need? Or do we simply wait for the first photograph and check whether she has “bounced back”?
Katrina Kaif became a mother less than a year ago. Her baby grew. Her life moved forward. Her husband, Vicky Kaushal, moved on to conversations about movies like Love & War , and everything else that occupies the life of a working actor. The internet, however, appears to have found one unfinished chapter: Katrina’s weight. And suddenly, a woman who has spent decades being discussed for her films, beauty, star power and a successful beauty business is once again being reduced to a number on a weighing scale. Actor. Entrepreneur. Wife. Mother. Woman navigating a life that has evolved. And yet, when she steps out, we still reduce her to one shade: how much does she weigh? Katrina looks fine. She looks like a woman who has had a child. There is nothing here that requires fixing, explaining or defending. But our collective gaze has been trained to look for something to fix. Bipasha Basu has faced it. Sameera Reddy has spoken openly about body-shaming after motherhood. Patralekhaa has called out body-shaming remarks made about her appearance post-pregnancy. Kareena Kapoor Khan has had her body scrutinised through pregnancies and beyond. Neha Dhupia has pushed back against the relentless commentary around women’s bodies after childbirth. Even Aishwarya Rai Bachchan — called the most beautiful woman in the world — has been trolled over this. What happens when she ages? Gains weight? Has a child? Changes? Do we really believe beauty is a lifetime contract? It’s time we stopped treating a woman’s body as the most interesting thing about her, especially after childbirth. Instead of examining Katrina’s waistline, why aren’t we more interested in what a woman’s body actually undergoes during pregnancy and childbirth? Why aren’t postpartum recovery, hormonal changes, breastfeeding, sleep deprivation, physical healing and the demands of caring for a newborn a bigger part of the conversation? Kiara Advani articulated this contradiction sharply in a recent conversation with us, recalling how a woman goes from being celebrated for her pregnancy to being judged for her body almost overnight. And the minute you’ve had a baby, it changes to, ‘ Abhi moti lag rahi hai, thoda sa yeh hua, woh hua . When you are pregnant, you are this devi , and the minute you deliver the baby, they expect you to be back in shape and back on track. But the hardest part for the woman is after. That is the part where she needs support. She added, “No one talks about the guilt you feel, the chaos outside you and inside you. It’s simply life-changing. I don’t think life-changing has a more apt example than this – the transition into motherhood. I couldn’t agree more. We know how to congratulate a woman on becoming a mother. We know how to send flowers, gifts and baby clothes. But do we know how to care for the woman? Do families give new mothers space to recover? Do workplaces offer meaningful support? Do we normalise asking for help? Do we understand that recovery doesn’t end when the baby arrives?
There are clearly many shades to Katrina Kaif today.
And what does “bounce back” even mean? To the person she was before — emotionally? You can’t simply undo the experience of becoming a mother, can you? Or to the body she had before creating another human being? Why must motherhood be followed by a makeover plan? And Katrina, of all people, reminds us that a woman can be many things at once. Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal were spotted at a city event She is a star. She has built a business. She has reinvented herself professionally. She has become a mother. These aren’t contradictory identities. They are different shades of the same woman. And this is what we need to start celebrating — the different shades of women, including the real ones. The woman who is ambitious and exhausted. Successful and vulnerable. Glamorous and messy. Confident and insecure. Made-up, makeup-free, changing, ageing, evolving. Women are not photographs that need to remain frozen at what you think is their most flattering angle. And they certainly aren’t subjects as thin as a makeup-removing wipe. There is a whole woman underneath the face we scrutinise. Kindly open your eyes and look at her the way she deserves to be seen. Looking for trusted parenting advice? Follow TOI Parenting Circle on Instagram for expert guidance, relatable stories, and practical tips delivered every day. Get the latest Lifestyle News and more. Download the TOI app.
