Why Bollywood stars Bipasha Basu and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are lashing out at body shaming trolls

Dubai: Who decided that women must shrink back into their pre-baby jeans before their stitches have even healed? Who sat in a boardroom of societal expectations and stamped a ridiculous memo that said: “Postpartum weight gain is unacceptable”? Because whoever it was, clearly never birthed a child—let alone twins.

I speak not just as a journalist who has watched celebrities such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sameera Reddy, Swara Bhasker and now Bipasha Basu get mercilessly trolled for their postpartum bodies, but as a mother who has lived through the physical and emotional rollercoaster of pregnancy and motherhood.

I gained around 20kgs during my twin pregnancy. I lost some of it immediately while breastfeeding. Then I gained it back. And you know what? That’s called life—not failure.

The recent trolling of Bipasha Basu for gaining weight after childbirth is yet another grim reminder that society has made a sport out of body-shaming women.

It’s like we’re expected to pop a baby out and pop into a size zero/UK size 4 outfit in record time—as if our worth is tethered to our waistlines. Influencer Shweta Vijay Nair posted a reel where she batted for the new mum and spoke about how Bipasha is being thrust with unrealistic beauty and body standards.

And it didn't go unnoticed. Bipasha took note and responding to a reel that featured a collage of her old and recent photos (designed clearly to mock her weight gain), Bipasha wrote in the comments section:
“Thank you for your clear words... Hope the human race does not remain so shallow and so low forever… and they encourage and applaud women for the million roles they play each day.”

She continued:
“I am a super confident woman with a very evolved loving partner and family. Memes and trolls do not define me ever… nor did they make me who I am. But these are deeply disturbing reflections of the society towards women. Another woman in my place could be deeply affected and scarred with the viciousness.”

And her final mic-drop moment?
“Anyways if we have more strong voices and at least women understanding and applauding women for who they are then women will rise higher and higher :) We are unstoppable ladies.”

We couldn't have summed it up better.

But this isn’t just a Bollywood issue. It’s every woman’s issue. It’s every new mother who looks in the mirror and doesn’t recognise herself. Every woman who’s told she “let herself go.” Every daughter absorbing these unrealistic expectations. Every son silently learning that beauty must be maintained at all costs—especially for women.

The internet isn’t kind to postpartum bodies.

It wasn’t kind to Aishwarya Rai when she took her time to lose the weight after giving birth to her daughter. She was hounded by paparazzi and mocked by media headlines for not “snapping back.” Apparently, when you’re a former Miss World, there’s no allowance for biology or basic humanity.

But as she told me in a 2018 interview ahead of her now-annual Cannes appearance, the actress said she never bought into the “bounce back” madness.

"Being a mother is a full-time job on its own. To be able to juggle more than one thing at a time takes a lot of planning and family support,” Aishwarya Rai Bachchan said.

At the time, her daughter Aaradhya was just 17 months old, and accompanied her everywhere, even to Cannes.

“I have a wonderful family including my in-laws that are involved in Aaradhya’s life. I love them all dearly—truly, they complete me,” she added.

She also offered the kind of grounded advice that cuts through the noise: “Enjoy your motherhood years no matter how consuming it might be. You must always remember that having a child is a blessing. Plan well and give everything its sweet time.”

Perhaps it’s this attitude that helped her weather the brutal scrutiny she was subjected to when she didn’t rapidly lose her pregnancy weight. She didn’t cave in. She carried herself with grace, proving that motherhood was not a phase to be “recovered” from—but embraced, embodied, and lived fully.

And now it’s happening again—to Bipasha, and to Swara Bhasker, who also had to deal with a deeply unnecessary and rude tweet recently.

A food blogger posted a side-by-side collage of Swara—one before her wedding, and one after giving birth—with the snide caption: “What did she eat?” Swara’s response, short and piercing, went viral for good reason.

“She had a baby. And do better, Nalini!”

Can we take a moment to applaud that brilliance? She didn’t over-explain, didn’t apologise, didn’t try to soften the blow. Just facts, served cold. And refreshing.

But the fact that women have to clap back at all is exhausting. It speaks volumes about the warped expectations we’re drowning in. The obsession with “bouncing back” has become the modern woman’s burden.

Instead of nurturing ourselves, we’re expected to erase the evidence of the very thing we’ve accomplished: creating life.

What’s even more infuriating is the double standard. Men gain weight post-40 and they’re called “distinguished.” A male celebrity develops a dad bod and suddenly he’s “relatable.” But a woman has a baby, and she’s declared “unfit,” “lazy,” or my personal favourite—“irrelevant.”

When did relevance become directly proportional to your dress size?

Motherhood isn’t a detox retreat. It’s not a 30-day challenge. It’s months of sleepless nights, hormones in free fall, C-section scars, back pain, and a complete loss of control over your own time and body.

And on top of all that, we’re supposed to smile sweetly for Instagram and pretend we’re effortlessly glowing?

Let me be honest: after giving birth to twins, I didn’t “bounce back.” I sagged. I stretched. I wept. I found joy in pockets and fatigue in every muscle. It wasn't ideal, but that's how I rolled at that point in my life which can be described as a very overwhelming phase.

And yet, society continues to weaponise women's bodies against them.

This is why Bipasha’s unapologetic honesty matters. This is why Swara’s curt brilliance matters. These are not women seeking sympathy. These are women rejecting a rigged game.

What we need is a culture shift—not a crash diet. We need to move from body policing to body appreciation. And not just for celebrities, but for every mother whose body has changed in the most miraculous way possible.

And can we stop pretending it's only men doing the trolling? Women, too, have internalised these toxic ideals. Sometimes, the cruelest comments come from other women—forgotten perhaps that sisterhood isn't about comparison, but compassion.

It’s the same theme, really—society choosing optics over empathy.

Bipasha’s husband, actor Karan Singh Grover, also chimed in with a post that should be framed in every household. He wrote:
“We should be putting all the women we know and love on a pedestal and praying to them. They are the gods/goddesses we should pray to. In fact I believe that God/source is a feminine energy. Nothing else could have created something as beautiful as life.”

That’s the kind of energy we need from partners—not protein-shake-enabling “fix her body” energy, but reverence for the woman and the journey she’s on.

So here’s what I want to ask everyone reading this—especially those quick to click on before-and-after photos: Why are you so obsessed with women going back to what they were? Can’t you see they’ve become something more?

I’m raising a daughter and two sons. And I will make sure they grow up knowing that worth is never measured in kilos. That bodies are not open for public commentary. That beauty is not about erasing signs of motherhood—it’s about wearing them with pride.

To every new mother out there: If your body has changed, good. That means you did something extraordinary. Let the trolls stay in their sad corners of the internet, scrolling through curated lives, while you live yours fully.

To the meme-makers: try growing a uterus, carrying a child, delivering it, nursing it, and still finding the time to be judged by strangers. And then come back and talk.

Until then, we’ll keep expanding our thoughts and world. We’ll keep laughing. We’ll keep clapping back when we must—but more importantly, we’ll keep owning our space, our stories, and yes, our bodies.

And like I always borrow the iconic line from the hit sitcom Friends:
“No uterus, no opinion.”