The period between November 2021 and the first week of June 2022 will always be a memorable chapter in Ritabhari Chakraborty’s life. The multitalented artiste accepted the challenge of putting on 20 kilos for Aritra Mukherjee’s Fatafati, presented by Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee (Windows Production), where she plays Phullora, a plus-sized woman. She was already a few pounds heavier due to a series of surgeries, which disallowed her any kind of physical activity, a phase which also saw her get mercilessly trolled. Instead of getting sucked into the vortex of body negativity and cowering, Ritabhari decided to slap on many more kilos, weighing 95kg at the time of filming, and faced her worst fears of getting fat, head-on. A journey she now looks back on as a truly empowering one, one that healed the several emotional scars that are not perceptible but are much more difficult to soothe than the physical scars left behind by surgery.
Today, she is sure of the body she wants to be in and is ready to take on the world. In this candid and honest chat, Ritabhari revisits the making of Fatafati that releases on May 12, and what it has done for her, on the sidelines of a special shoot, where she celebrates her sheroes, with The Telegraph. Excerpts.
Meghan Trainor
This has to be one of your most challenging films, right?
Yes. Post my second surgery I had gained about six-seven kilos. I featured in a TVC for which I got trolled very badly. Shibuda (Shiboprosad Mukherjee) and his team saw the ad and thought I’d be great for the part. They came to me a month later and by then I had two scripts for which I was gearing up to lose weight. When he came to me, the condition was I had to gain 18-20 kilos to look the part. This was a plus-size girl’s story, someone for whom jama paoya jay na. There was a bit of contemplation about whether to lose weight and do those two films or do this one, but probably because of that trolling, it struck me that this is probably the life of so many women on an everyday basis forever. People who are not the “fashion magazine body” think they are not good enough to go out there and be themselves.
I realised this subject was so much bigger than me and anything I was currently working on and that the journey would be worth it, maybe I could be the voice for all those women. That’s when I decided to do the film.
The script was great and fun and had this amazing love story. It told a story without being preachy. Luke (Coutinho; an integrative and lifestyle medicine expert) helped me in not gaining it in a way which will be too hard to lose and at the same time ensuring that I don’t fall sick. I have a fast metabolism and it was difficult to hold on to the weight because by the time I started shooting, I was no longer bedridden like I was after my surgery and was naturally losing weight, which was not desirable! (Laughs) They were making me slog too! (Laughs) We tried our best and did what we could.
I had pizza and tacos, not Luke’s recommendation at all! (Laughs) Also, I am not a rice person, but I did eat a lot of it. I took sweet potatoes and increased the amount of food I consumed. Luke had suggested I bulk up with home food.
My breathing was heavy when I gained weight. It was difficult to climb stairs or quickly get up from the floor from a seated position. I don’t think I look at the world the same way. I don’t take my body or health for granted any more. At all.
Were you at all sceptical that you might not be able to shed it all off?
Of course, I was. I was scared as hell but I just couldn’t tell anyone. I knew what I was doing and had a nutritionist on board who assured me, ‘Go do your job, we’ll take care of it’. I had a dermatologist on board too but it was my body. I had never lived like I did for those months. Not being physically too active made me a little sulky.
Then at one point, it hit me that I was doing a film of body positivity and if I remained this weight, I’ll still do this and be an actor and show the world what I am made of.
When did you go back to the rigour of losing the extra weight?
After the film schedule ended. But first I went for a holiday to Europe and ate my heart out because I knew once I was back Luke would put me on a diet! (Laughs) I waited till my birthday (June 26) was done and made sure I had devoured three cakes — blueberry, red velvet and Black Forest! (Laughs) I started my weight loss journey from July 1 and have lost 21kg since then. I didn’t crash diet and in between, I did eat what I wanted to. I strictly adhered to Luke’s chart for three months. When I started doing cardio again, I didn’t have to be so particular about proportions, but I still go by whatever he has suggested, like which oil to use. When I travel, I’ll have to get a separate chart from him.
There are still a few more months to go in the journey but I will take my own time. I want to make the choice of what body I want to be in and not what the world wants.
(Left) “It would have been a shame if we lost an actor like Vidya Balan because the industry couldn’t accept her body. She has scripts written for her and Tumhari Sulu is such a sweet film. She was a common woman’s hero,” says Ritabhari, channelling Vidya Balan’s Sulochana from the 2017 feel-good film.(Right) idya Balan in Tumhari Sulu
I don’t think I was ever comfortable with my body. Even when I had the skinniest of legs or the tiniest of waistlines, I always found fault with myself. My worst nightmare was that I would get fat till the point when I actually got fat. Whatever weight I gained even post my surgery was also unreal. It was a body I had never seen. It can be shocking for people and it was for me too. I don’t question concerns. What bugged me was people saying how horrible I looked and them calling me an elephant. That’s an insult.
I had a difficult time making peace with my body, which I finally did when I made the decision to do Fatafati and gain 20 more kilos. That was the moment I was ready to finally face my worst fear of being fat and I have lived through it. It was scary and hard because it is not something that this world looks upon nicely. I heard so many condescending remarks even before I could tell people that this was for a film.
But having lived through it, I ask myself, ‘Pauline, what’s my worst fear now?’ Pauline says ‘Nothing! I am invincible!’ (Laughs) I am still sensitive and emotional, but my relationship with myself has healed to an extent where I fear nothing.
(Left) “Owning your body when you have been Rose or the crush of generations and still not holding yourself to that image, takes beyond guts. She is telling you that she wants you to see her as a human and not an angel,” says Ritabhari of her other favourite, Kate Winslet. She channelled the Oscar winner’s look from Mare of Easttown. (Right) Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown
I have been all sizes. From extra small to double or triple XL. It’s very hard to please everyone. You just have to be confident about yourself — Ritabhari
Let’s talk about the three feisty women you have picked for the special shoot...
Meghan Trainor (American singer-songwriter) owns the body she is in and looks great. Her songs are about self-confidence. I listen to her a lot while I am getting ready or doing photoshoots. It is so much about self-love and owning your curves. I think she is awesome.
Kate Winslet has been an inspiration for so many reasons. She has defied the meaning of how a heroine should look and be, an absolute hero or shero. In Mare of Easttown, she is playing a grandmother in her late 40s. She owns her body and brings honesty to the part. She is Rose (from Titanic) and will always be so, but she is not holding herself to the illusion that what if she is not Rose any more, will people see her with her wrinkles and flab? That’s leadership. She is real. Owning your body when you have been Rose or the crush of generations and still not holding yourself to that image takes beyond guts. She is telling you that she wants you to see her as a human and not an angel.
It would have been a shame if we lost an actor like Vidya Balan because the industry couldn’t accept her body. She has scripts written for her and Tumhari Sulu is such a sweet film. She was a common woman’s hero and with Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti (also directed by Aritra Mukherjee for Windows Production that spoke about breaking taboos) and Fatafati, that’s probably the same image I am trying to channel too. Phullora (her character in Fatafati) may be a normal girl, but she is also Miss Fatafati.
I picked very different looks and different kinds of women because there is no one way to be and all of it is fine as long as you love yourself.
What is your message for all the women who think they are not good enough?
People will always judge you. They feel judging others balms their own insecurity. If you want to look for inspiration they are everywhere. Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Barbie Ferreira, Ashley Graham... which is why a film like Fatafati... I looked for them when I was going through that journey. I have been all sizes. From extra small to double or triple XL. It’s very hard to please everyone. You just have to be confident about yourself.
Hair: Gini Halder
Make-up: Babusona Saha
Stylist: Kiara Sen
Coordinated by: Madhuja Bhowmick