Actress Swara Bhasker, who married politician Fahad Ahmed in January 2023 and welcomed their daughter Raabiyaa on September 23, recently called out a leading newspaper for body-shaming her. On Tuesday, Bhasker took to Instagram Stories to highlight an article that criticised her weight gain and speculated that it was affecting her career prospects. 


Swara calls out a leading newspaper


Sharing a screenshot of the article's tweet, Bhasker wrote, "For those who cannot read the Devanagari script, this is a leading Hindi newspaper handle that thinks it is newsworthy that a recent mom, who birthed a child a few months ago, put on weight! Can someone please explain the physiology of childbirth to the geniuses..." The article's original tweet read, “Badhte wajan ke karan Swara ko nahi mil raha kaam (Due to her weight gain, Swara is not getting work)!” 


Swara on motherhood


In an interview with HT City in October 2023, Bhasker reflected on her eventful year, having gotten married and welcomed her first child within ten months. "2023 has been an absolute whirlwind, in the happiest way possible. My year-end summary will be that it was very hectic. I got married and had a baby within 10 months. If you had spoken to me in October last year, I would never have known that I will be married to Fahad three months later. Bhagwaan deta hai toh chhappad faad ke deta hai (When God blesses you, he blesses you abundantly)." 


Discussing her approach to raising her daughter, Bhasker emphasised the importance of embracing both Hindu and Muslim traditions. "All children are a reflection of what their parents are; they grow up with the values their parents give. Raabiyaa will have the best of both the worlds. She will have access to two kinds of faith. It is like how India is a mish mash of caste and religion. In fact, the two families were chatting post her birth, and discovered that the chhathhi (sixth day after the baby's birth) is common to both Hindus and Muslims. I think that is beautiful. We focus on the differences, but there is so much similarity. When you look for differences with an agenda, then you will find that rubbish," she said. 


Swara Bhasker, known for her impactful roles in films such as 'Tanu Weds Manu' (2011), 'Raanjhanaa' (2013), 'Nil Battey Sannata' (2016), and 'Veere Di Wedding' (2018), made her film debut in 2009 with 'Madholal Keep Walking.'