There are many things Bollywood needs to work on. From pay disparity to the age gap between the male and female co-stars, we still have a long way to go!
Over the years, many celebs have undergone some weird experiences in Bollywood and received some terrible advice.
1. Deepika Padukone
In an interview with Filmfare, Deepika spoke about the experiences of her initial days and shared the worst advice she got once.
The worst advice I received was to get breast implants. I was all of 18 and I often wonder how I had the wisdom to not take it seriously.
Deepika also shared some words of wisdom given by SRK to her during Om Shanti om.
Shah Rukh gives good advice, and I got a lot from him. One of the most valuable pieces of advice I got from him was to always work with people you know you are going to have a good time with. Because while you are making a movie, you are also living life, making memories, and creating experiences.
2. Kalki Koechlin
Kalki Koechlin stepped into Bollywood with the film Dev.D. The actor talked about how during her initial days’ people would ask her to do an item number.
People have advised me about strange things. Like dye your hair black, do an item number, don’t intimidate the audience with your acting. It’s not like I don’t want to do commercial films, I would love to do a romantic comedy, a fun film. It’s a mixture of what comes my way and what I want to do. I then pick something which I can relate to in some way, do a good job, and do justice to a role (sic).
3. Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor made his Bollywood debut with Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai. In an old interview, he talked about how people would advise him to create controversies.
At the beginning of my career, I was this quiet type. People would give me crazy advice – jhagda karlo parties mein (get into a fight at parties), xyz type ke scene mein Shah Rukh Khan ke jaise emote karo (emote like Shah Rukh Khan in the xyz scene) and so on. It was really funny. It was also scary because I came from a film family and was told all this. It was hard to imagine what people who came from non-film families went through.
4. Taapsee Pannu
Taapsee recalls when people advised her not to do women-centric films and said:
I have been advised by people in this industry that you should let men take the centre stage now. You are only doing women-centric films. When I tell them that I also did Mission Mangal, they say but that’s again a strong female character. Toh kya karu? Kuch bhi flimsy sa role kar lun? (Then what should I do? Should I do flimsy roles?).
5. Ayushmann Khurrana
Did you know Ayushmann was rejected in films because of his thick eyebrows? Talking about how this affected him, he said:
Yes, it’s true because, during my struggling days wherever I used to go for auditions, casting directors used to say that I can’t be an actor because my eyebrows are too long and cannot be fitted as an actor material. So, whenever I used to go to the salon, I used to give extra money to the barber who would cut and shape my eyebrows with the hope that I would be selected in the auditions.
6. Esha Gupta
Esha Gupta made her Bollywood debut with Jannat 2. The actor recalls how people advised her to undergo surgeries to look good.
When I became an actor, and my first film came, I remember when I used to go to meetings or auditions, people used to say, ‘Oh, you should do your colour light or take those injections, which cost a lot of money.’ Because a lot of actresses have done that and changed the colour. But I never understood that concept. Someone even told me that I should change my nose because my nose was not sharp like other actresses.
7. Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka is now an international star. But at the beginning of her career, people asked her to work with big stars and not do women-centric films.
I was told that girls did women-centric roles only towards the end of their careers to win awards. I was advised to work with big stars and do Hollywood tent-pole-type movies. While shooting for Aitraaz, people warned me that it was a wrong career move and that I would get stuck with vamp-type roles. It scared me like hell.
Read: From Pankaj Tripathi To Arjun Kapoor, 10 Times Actors Were Replaced In Films.