Deserve to be ignored: Richa Chadha slams trolls body-shaming women actors

Richa Chadha has pushed back against the trolling of female actors over their postpartum appearance, saying women should not listen to comments about their bodies and arguing that the scrutiny is not coming from the film industry. Her remarks come at a time when actors including Katrina Kaif have faced online comments about their postpartum appearance, with users comparing before-and-after photographs and debating whether she had ‘bounced back’.Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bipasha Basu and Patralekhaa have also been subjected to comments about their bodies after childbirth. Chadha, who became a mother in 2024, spoke at length about body-shaming, motherhood and the creative path that led her to Musafiri.In the same conversation, she reflected on how motherhood has made her more aware of what children watch, why she was drawn to documentary-style storytelling, and why she wants Musafiri to move beyond Bombay. Asked about trolling and the pressure on female to maintain a certain image, Chadha said women should refuse to give weight to such remarks.Speaking to India Today, the 39-year-old actor said, "See, I don't think women should listen to anybody commenting on their body. Industry is very respectful of women who have babies and who have careers. All the fantastic actresses from Madhuri to Juhi Chawla to Rani Mukherjee, Sonali Bendre. I don't think it's the industry." She added, "It's the common man of India who is ugly and balding and has a disgusting paunch who thinks that commenting on Katrina Kaif or Aishwarya Rai is somehow making his life better. It's so funny. I find it really useless and I honestly do think that it deserves much less space even in media discourse. What to hear useless things from losers? And why? It's up to you, What pressure you take. It's up to you. Like some people will take Ozempic. Good for them. Some people will hit the gym. Good for them. It's your journey with your body.""Industry is not like this. It's common people who have been emboldened by the anonymity of social media. Who think that they have hit the jackpot by leaving anonymous comments. They are beggars in their lives. But they think that they can talk about people who are like Miss World and Miss Universe. Like we owe them something. That's not how the world works. They are just losers and they deserve to be ignored," Chadha continued.Motherhood and what children watch On whether motherhood had changed the stories she feels drawn to, Chadha said it had not altered that instinct in a direct way, but it had made her more aware of how little there is for children to watch if parents want to limit screen time. She connected that to the extra effort needed to keep children engaged with the world around them."I don't know if it's made me change the kind of stories I feel drawn to, but definitely I'm more aware that there's not much for children to watch. Like, if you don't want your kid to be watching, looking at the screen and watching only Coco Melon and things like that. You have to work extra hard to keep them interested in life around them and keep them away from screens. So, that's what I feel like definitely made me aware. When we were growing up, there were so many shows that used to come once a week, whether they were like Vikram Betal or like Sinbad the Sailor or Duck Tales or all those cartoons that we would look forward to. There were tiny like science shows like Bill Nye, The Science Guy," the actor expressed.She elaborated, "Now, there is all this, but it's so spread out and it's all over the place like it's become one like singing reality show (laughing). So, I feel like acutely aware of the fact that there's hardly anything to watch. So, I wanted to also start making like PG-13 content."Why Musafiri took shapeAsked what made her move from being watched as an actor to observing people, places and stories through Musafiri, Chadha said the impulse came from a long-standing personal interest. She said history had always been important to her and noted that it was also her college degree.She also described the show as part of a wider creative pull beyond acting. "Acting doesn't always scratch that creative itch because you are working in someone else's script, no? So, if you want to do something experimental or something like nerdy, then how do you do that? You have to do it by documentary." Beyond BombayOn whether Musafiri would remain limited to city exploration or travel further, Chadha said the plan was always to go beyond its current setting. She said, "Beyond the city, 100 per cent. This is the pilot. So just to lessen the risk on the producer, we did it here. But of course, while researching, we found out Bombay is truly, truly fascinating in so many ways. And definitely, we will be going to other places. That's the idea, actually."She also said the idea did not begin as a YouTube series. According to Chadha, she had been writing a book on the subject before deciding to keep that research aside and return to it later on screen, possibly as a novella. She first thought of making a documentary, but found documentaries difficult to mount, execute and distribute, before settling on shorter episodes that she felt audiences would find engaging.Ali Fazal's place in the projectAsked whether her husband, actor Ali Fazal would join her on the show, Chadha made it clear that Musafiri was her own creation, while adding a note of humour about his success. She said, "No, this is my brainchild. He's very pleased with the stuff he's doing. He's a 200 crore ka hero. So, I'm very happy for him. He's the first person I look to for feedback on the show."Richa and Ali, who is currently enjoying the success of Mirzapur 2, met on the sets of Fukrey in 2013. They got married in 2020 during Covid-19 pandemic. The couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Zuneyra Ida Fazal in July 2024.On the professional front, she produced her debut feature film Girls Will Be Girls and featured in Heeramandi in 2024. Her short film Taps, which is a queer love story, was released on YouTube in 2025. Her latest web series Musafiri is now streaming on YouTube.- Ends