When Asha Parekh Made A Controversial Statement On Women’s Clothes (Photo Credit – Sony LIV)
Advertisement
Yesteryear actress Asha Parekh had grabbed several eyeballs when she had made a bold statement regarding women resorting to westernization when it comes to their fashion choices. The actress expressed her unhappiness with women choosing to wear gowns rather than traditional Indian attires at weddings and other occasions. She further added that even fat women wear gowns and other western clothes which does not look appealing.
Her statement had inevitably stirred some controversy wherein people accused her of allegedly being a moral police and also bodyshaming plus sized women. The incident occured when Asha Parekh was invited to speak at the 53rd International Film Festival in 2022. The Kati Patang actress revealed that she prefers women wearing a Saree, Salwar-Kameez or Ghagra-Choli instead of gowns and other western outfits.
According to Hindustan Times, Asha Parekh was quoted as saying, “Everything has changed (since the time when she worked in films). The films that are being made are …I do not know, we are so westernised. gowns pehen k wedding pe aa rahi hain ladkiyan. Arre bhaiya, humari ghaghra choli, saariyan aur salwar-kameez hai aap wo pehno na (Dear, we have ghaghar-choli, salwar-kameez and sarees, wear those).”
The Hum Hindustaani actress slammed these women for blindly copying what actresses wear in their movies. She added how even fat women prefer wearing gowns and western clothes. Asha Parekh went on to add, “Why dont you wear those? They just watch the heroines on the screen (and wish to copy them). Screen pe dekh ke wo jo kapde pehen rahe us tarah ke kapde hum bhi pehnenge …mote ho, ya jo, hum wahi phnenge. Ye western ho raha hai mujhe dukh hota hai (They just want to wear the clothes they see heroines wearing onscreen. Even if they are fat or whatever, they do not care if the clothes will look good on them, whether they are fat or anything. I get hurt when I see this westernisation). We have such great culture, dance and music we could get it all back in pop culture.” In the same event, she also rubbished speculations of her having an issue with Dilip Kumar. The actress said that she always wished to work with him but nothing had ever materialized.
Asha Parekh’s statements drew some criticisms after the event. Her last movie appearance was the 1996 film, Mutthibhar Zameen opposite Danny Denzongpa. The 82-year-old actress now focuses on her dance academy namely Kara Bhavan.
