Richa Chadha has criticised the trolling of female actors over how they look after childbirth, advising women to ignore comments about their bodies and said the criticism does not come from within the film industry. She spoke out as stars such as Katrina Kaif have drawn online remarks about their postpartum appearance, with social media users putting before-and-after pictures side by side and debating whether she had “bounced back.”
Richa Chadha on ‘Musafiri’, motherhood and body-shaming
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bipasha Basu and Patralekhaa are among other actresses whose bodies have come under scrutiny after motherhood. Chadha, who became a mother in 2024, opened up about body-shaming, parenting and the creative road that led her to Musafiri. She also spoke about how being a mother has made her more conscious of what children watch, her pull towards documentary-style storytelling, and her wish to take Musafiri beyond Bombay. Questioned about trolling and the pressure on women to maintain a particular image, Chadha maintained that women should not give such remarks any importance.
Richa Chadha says women should not listen to comments on their bodies
Talking to India Today, Richa said, “See, I don’t think women should listen to anybody commenting on their body. Industry is very respectful of women who have babies and who have careers. All the fantastic actresses from Madhuri to Juhi Chawla to Rani Mukherjee, Sonali Bendre. I don’t think it’s the industry.”She added, “It’s the common man of India who is ugly and balding and has a disgusting paunch who thinks that commenting on Katrina Kaif or Aishwarya Rai is somehow making his life better. It’s so funny. I find it really useless and I honestly do think that it deserves much less space even in media discourse. What to hear useless things from losers? And why? It’s up to you, What pressure you take. It’s up to you. Like some people will take Ozempic. Good for them. Some people will hit the gym. Good for them. It’s your journey with your body.”“Industry is not like this. It’s common people who have been emboldened by the anonymity of social media. Who think that they have hit the jackpot by leaving anonymous comments. They are beggars in their lives. But they think that they can talk about people who are like Miss World and Miss Universe. Like we owe them something. That’s not how the world works. They are just losers and they deserve to be ignored,” Chadha continued.
Richa Chadha’s work: ‘Girls Will Be Girls’, ‘Taps’ and ‘Musafiri’
On the professional front, Richa Chadha made her debut as a producer with the feature film ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ and appeared in ‘Heeramandi’ in 2024. In 2025, she released ‘Taps’, a queer love story, as a short film on YouTube. Her newest web series, ‘Musafiri’, is currently streaming on YouTube.