Television actress Nia Sharma is trending all over for her latest music video ‘Phoonk Le’. In the video, she can be seen dancing with about 100 men ogling at her belly and objectifying her. What’s even more infuriating is that the song demanded Nia to give up on food entirely, and starve herself to get her belly in ‘shape’ and look desirable.
Credit: Saregama Music, YouTube
Nia shares how she starved herself for a flat belly
Credit: Nia Sharma, Instagram
In a recent interview with RJ Siddharth Kannan, Nia revealed how not being a pro at dancing or having a dancing background led to a lot of pressure on her as the makers were rooting for her.
She said, “I just didn’t diet, I would like to tell you, I had stopped eating to look fit for the song. It’s my working style, if I take up something challenging, I go all out. I wanted to look fit and do full justice to the song and the outfit they had given me where I had to flaunt my flat belly.”
“I remember eating only quinoa and very little food for seven days. There were times when I would faint also during rehearsals but I did not give up, I just went all out and I am very happy with the outcome of the song. From workout, cycling, I did everything so that I do full justice to the project. In fact, I also had a fever for a day while shooting because of the exertion but I wanted the song to come out nicely,” she added.
Credit: Nia Sharma, Instagram
Adding further she said, “When I say I stopped eating, it’s not even about a diet. I would sleep hungry, I was waking up hungry, I would go to the gym hungry. Hungry bhi nahi, mujhe bhook bhi nahi lag rahi thi, because I had lost my appetite. I just wanted to go so hard into that song, look so on point. And I did, I was just looking at my belly and I was like, ‘Look at that’,” she said.
Talking about her struggles with body issues and how she had a meltdown while shooting, she said, “I am a very average-looking girl and I accept that there is no harm in talking like that. Hate is a very strong word, there is nothing I would like to change in my body. I have bloating issues, I have phases or maybe not, maybe it was in my head that I was a girl who was thin all the time but it cannot happen. It took me years to come to terms with the fact that I cannot have a flat belly 365 days a year. It is not possible, I will eat, I will put water in my body, it will bloat. Mere bas woh issues hai and sometimes, I can’t deal with them. I end up crying, I have meltdowns.”
Starving can pose serious health risks
Credit: Nia Sharma, Instagram
Nia’s quest to achieve that perfect flat belly by starving herself for days and weeks reveals the dark side of the glamour world that puts an immense amount of pressure on the actors to look a certain way, even at the cost of their mental and physical health.
Now, let’s talk about the serious health risks of starving your body, shall we? Calorie deficit for longer durations affects your metabolism rate and slows it down. Not just that, it weakens your immune system and bones. It may also impact your menstrual cycle.
Depriving your body of sufficient calories isn’t a healthy idea for weight loss. In order to make your body function properly, your body needs to be in a healthy state and starving is definitely not the right way to go about it.
Lead Image Credit: Nia Sharma, Instagram
