Taapsee Pannu says her curly hair was a big insecurity growing up

Taapsee Pannu may have hit it big in cinema but the Bollywood actor says she was extremely insecure about her ‘unconventional’ looks and even got harsh chemical treatments to fit in.

In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, Pannu recalled how she thought she was the “opposite” of what beauty standards were back in the day.

“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,” she explained.

Pannu also delved into an experience that significantly changed her outlook on beauty, sharing that because she didn’t see women with hair like her on TV, she was enticed into using harsh chemicals to straighten her curly hair.

“That completely ruined my hair! At first, I was so frustrated to have limp ends with curly bits growing on the top, and then I was horrified when my hair began falling,” she recounted.

“I did not fit the conventional parameters of beauty. And for many years, I tried to change myself, and failed miserably at it. Until finally I realised that I need to live with—and love—what I have. Today, I understand how beautiful it is when you truly love the way you are,” she concluded.