Zara Noor Abbas opens up about being body-shamed

Having shot to fame with drama serial Khamoshi last year, Zara Noor Abbas is all set for her big screen debut this year – she is a part of not one but two films in 2019. She will be seen in Wajahat Rauf’s upcoming film Chhalawa, scheduled to release on Eid ul Fitr 2019 while she essays a key role in Asim Raza’s Eid ul Azha release, Parey Hut Love.

Recently, Zara took to social media and spoke about her struggle being a ‘broad’ woman, who apparently isn’t “desirable”, and how it affected her initially. She posted a picture collage comprising two images from a photo shoot and captioned, “Left: photo-shopped (in which she looks very skinny); right: original (she looks her size).”

“A shoot I did some time ago; the people involved sent me this picture and I made a collage of it,” she shared. “For the longest time I have heard people telling me that I am ‘too broad’ or ‘too big’. I was told, ‘sizes 4 and 6 SHOULD be my friends’; I should go through body transforming surgery. A very prestigious brand didn’t want to work with me because I was not ‘petite’.”

She states that all of this was really disturbing, to the extent that she disliked herself and began to question if looks are the only thing that matter. She would eat but then she would feel guilty because people would turn around and say, ‘actresses and models don’t eat; they have to look desirable. And ONLY skinny is desirable’.

“Then one fine day, while this was taking a huge toll on me, I looked at myself and told myself what I always believed in: being who you are. And who am I?” she added. “I am a curvy woman and I love myself. Take me as who I am or else, don’t bother at all. I will never change myself for what you think I should be.”