Neha Bhasin recalls how she was body shamed and slut shamed after joining industry: ‘I still feel the fear…’

Singer Neha Bhasin has opened up on facing discrimination in the music industry where she was ‘body shamed and slut shamed’. In a new interview, she said that she joined the industry as a confident and body-positive person but was told she was ‘fat and ugly’. The singer said that she still feels the ‘fear that it would all come back’. (Also Read | Neha Bhasin dances on table at her birthday bash, Rashami Desai stuns in black. See pics)

Neha, in 2002, won the reality show MTV Popstars season 1 to become a part of the country’s first all-girls band, Viva. However, the band broke up in 2004. Neha then sang for Hindi films as well as Tamil movies. Her first breakthrough in Bollywood was the song Kuch Khass Hai in Fashion (2008).

In an interview with Times of India, Neha said, “I came into this industry very body positive and also very confident. However, when I entered this industry, I was made to feel like I am nothing. I was body shamed, slut shamed and was told that I am fat and ugly. I have had ten years of body image issues and eating disorders. I tried to cope with it all in the public eye.”

“It was not something I came with, to Mumbai. Even after two decades of being in this, I still feel the fear that it would all come back. We are afraid to be of a certain size because we are told that is not good. But I have indeed led by example. I have shown my flaws upfront, I have accepted my insecurities. I have bared my body even when it was not perfect and I still do it. I always try to show the humanness in me,” she added.

Neha often shares posts on Instagram talking about self-acceptance and body positivity. Last month, she posted a video collage featuring herself. She wrote, “The fight is not with the world but with demons within created by this mean world. I don’t need a filter..#loveyourself #nehabhasin.” Sharing another post, she wrote, “Your opinion of me does not define who I am.”

Neha has lent her voice to several Tamil and Telugu songs including Pesugiren Pesugiren, Poraney Poraney, and Swing Zara among others. The singer has also sung many Hindi songs such as Dhunki, Jag Ghoomeya, Swag Se Swagat, and Chashni.

Apart from music, she made her acting debut in the feature film Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi. Neha was a judge on the music reality show Sitaaron Ko Choona Hai. Fans also saw her as a contestant on Bigg Boss OTT and Bigg Boss 15 last year.