This Mother’s Day, here’s our list of inspirational mums who’ve kept their heads high.
By Pooja Sachdev
Thai Mother’s Day is here, a reminder to celebrate one of the most beautiful yet difficult roles in the world: being a mother. When they embark on the journey of pregnancy, many mothers-to-be often go through phases of sensitivity and difficulty, and this is especially tough on actresses in the Bollywood industry, who have very limited privacy. The whole world is aware of their situation, and everyone seems to have comments to share, whether it’s congratulations, or hateful judgments on when and with whom they chose to get pregnant. While some people wholeheartedly share their blessings, others may share nasty comments and seem to take joy in trolling celebrities.
Bollywood actresses experience a lot of hate with their jobs, and every life decision seem to be questioned via nasty social media comments, and by the paparazzi. For many of these actresses, dealing with trolls and rumours can be especially difficult while they’re expecting, but nevertheless, many have handled the haters with grace. Since today is an important day to honour the contribution of mothers and their valued role in society, in honour of all these mothers who have stood tall through difficulty, we’ve put together a list of Bollywood actresses who’ve handled the hate while they were pregnant, with poise.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!
Dia Mirza
A fan had asked Dia why her pregnancy was not announced before her wedding, but rather after, and they questioned her dedication to breaking stereotypes: “That’s so good, congrats. But the problem is, she tried to break the stereotypes with a woman priest, why couldn’t she announce her pregnancy before the marriage? Isn’t becoming pregnant after marriage a stereotype we follow? Why can’t women get pregnant before marriage?”
Dia stood up for herself and spoke with grace in response:
Nataša Stanković
After Nataša Stanković and Hardik Pandya, a famous cricketer, announced their marriage, they also announced that Nataša was pregnant shortly thereafter. Nataša was trolled all over the internet by people with negative judgments about her being pregnant before marriage. Below are some of the hateful comments she received:
Nataša, however, chose to take the higher road and ignored these trolls, choosing instead to share blissfully happy photos of herself being happy, in love, and proud to be a mother. She even released a statement against criticisms of her breastfeeding in public saying, “People should be more open about it in India. It is not something to be ashamed of. You are feeding your own child.” Recently, when her son turned one, she shared an adorable compilation video of them together with the caption, “…You are the best thing that has happened to us. Watching you learning new things everyday makes me so happy ❤️ love you my son, love you so so much ❤️”
Amrita Arora Ladak
Amrita was trolled for having a baby a few months after their wedding, with many questioning her family planning. She married a Muslim man and had both a Christian wedding and a Nikaah, which seemed to trigger a lot of the bigots.
Amrita, however, refused to sink down to their level and refused to comment on the news of her pregnancy, instead choosing to carry on with dignity.
Kalki Koechlin
Kalki had her first child with her boyfriend, Guy Hershberg, last year. When she happily announced her pregnancy, however, she initially received a lot of criticism and questions asking, “Where’s the husband?” and “How can you do this?” and unasked-for admonitions to, “Don’t wear tight clothes.” She responded gracefully, saying “Trolling happens even when you are not pregnant…Even if you are not a celebrity and have an opinion, which is all out there, people will have their views and it is okay.”
Neena Gupta
Neena was harshly criticised for having a child out of wedlock with Vivan Richards, a cricket team captain. He was a married man and she knew he had no future with him, but decided to go through with the pregnancy, initially raising her daughter as a single mum. Although she later married Vivek Mehra, she received a lot of trolling for her decisions. However, she did not let the criticisms get her down, although later she did speak up to say, “I would not have a child outside marriage. Every child needs both parents.”
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