'She Is So Fat': Nayanthara Says She Was Body-Shamed For Controversial Bikini Scene In Billa, Trolled For Ghajini

Actress Nayanthara, who is regarded as south's 'lady superstar' today, first shot to fame with her Malayalam film, Ghajini, in 2005. However, in her documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairytale, the actress called the film the 'lowest point' of her career, as she was brutally trolled and body-shamed for her role in it.

During one of the segments, the actress stated, "The lowest point was the film, Ghajini. There were days when I used to see all these comments and people were like, 'Why is she even acting?', 'Why is she even there in the film?', 'She is so fat!'. You can't say such things, you know? You can talk about the performance part of it."

She went on to say, "Maybe, I was not good. But I was doing exactly what my director told me to do. And I was wearing exactly what he told me to wear. I was a newcomer so I never had a say in it."

Nayanthara also addressed the controversy that erupted after she wore a bikini in the 2007 film, Billa, and stated that all the backlash was uncalled for. "The whole drama was about the bikini scene that I did, which was an issue for everyone. But I thought, that’s how everything changes, right? I did it not because I wanted to prove a point, I did it because my director told me that’s the scene. It was necessary, so I did it. And I think it kind of worked for me," she shared.

Nayanthara marked her acting debut in 2003 with the Malayalam film, Manassinakkare, and since then, she has starred in over 75 films, across the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam film industries. At present, she is the highest paid actress in the south film industry.