AS AN ACTOR, YOU NEED TO MAINTAIN YOUR BODY
WEIGHT, IMAGE AND COMPLEXION. A LOT OF TEENS
TODAY HAVE BODY IMAGE ISSUES BECAUSE THEY
HAVE BECOME VERY IMAGE CONSCIOUS. DO YOU
BELIEVE THE FILM AND BEAUTY INDUSTRY IS LARGELY
DRIVING THIS?
Yes, of course the film and beauty industry is largely
driving this trend. Everybody wants to be perfect. Every-
body wants to look good. Everybody wants to be thin.
But this is not a socially beneficial development because
let me tell you most of what we look like in our pictures,
is photoshopped. We all have our flaws and assets. My
advice to teens and young people is to be yourself. Don't
try to be somebody else.
Just because somebody else has beautiful eyebrows,
teens crave them. Somebody else has full lips, they get
botox; somebody is size zero so they blow up money on
liposuction. This is a sick, unhealthy trend. This issue
needs to be addressed and I want to tell all my fans and
all youngsters out there that their most important prior-
ity should be to maintain fitness and health. It is not so
important to be a zero size or have a thin waist that you
undergo treatment that changes your physiology. There
are no shortcuts to being healthy and fit.
You have to have a balanced diet. Go to a good
nutritionist if necessary, and adopt a good exercise
regimen. It's very important for all people to exercise.
That's the only way to become and remain fit.
God made us in a certain way. Accept it, live with
it, love it. The day people start loving themselves and
becoming confident about themselves, they start looking
beautiful. Don't listen to people who don't matter.
People who love you will love you for the way you
are, anyway. So I don't think you should bother about
external, ephemeral beauty.YOU HAVE RETURNED TO THE FILM WORLD WITH
GUSTO NOW, SPECIALLY TO THE SOUTHERN FILM
INDUSTRY AND YOU HAVE PLUNGED INTO POLITICS.
WILL THAT ALTER YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR
CHILD?
I keep my personal and professional lives quite separate.
I am very clear about my responsibilities and priorities.
If I have to attend a parent-teachers meeting in
Rihanna’s school and at the same time have a business
meeting, I re-schedule the business meeting because I
have to go for Rianna's PTM.
There are times when you have to compromise and
adjust — life is like that. So I would not say that only
my profession or my family is important. I believe it is
possible to balance family and professional life. And
that's the successful life we should strive for.Isha Koppikar with husband Timmy Narang & daughter Rianna