Nora Fatehi says she refused to be styled like Janhvi Kapoor and Ananya Panday: ‘My body is not the same’

Last updated:Nov 5, 2024 10:40 IST

Nora Fatehi said she refused to dress up as Janhvi Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Ananya Panday.

Dilbar was released in 2018. (Photo Credits: Instagram)

Nora Fatehi rose to fame with her popular dance songs such as Dilbar, Garmi and Kamariya. The actor-dancer has been vocal about several issues in Bollywood over the past few years. In a recent conversation, she explained how difficult it becomes to get people to understand her different body type. Nora also shared that she often asked her stylists not to dress her like the other actresses, including Janhvi Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Ananya Panday.

In an interview at the Melbourne Indian Film Festival, Nora revealed that she refused to wear the blouse that the stylists initially designed for her for Satyameva Jayate’s song ‘Dilbar’. Despite not having a strong foothold in the industry at the time, she was determined not to wear such a blouse and asked them to reconstruct it. But now the tables have turned.

Nora shared that now that she has the power to talk about her choices, she often asks her stylists not to dress like the young actresses. She said, “Today, if I have the power to speak. I tell my stylists, ‘This is too much.’ The way they dress Ananya (Panday), Sara (Ali Khan) or Janhvi (Kapoor), they can’t dress me the same way. My body is not the same.”

She continued, “I have a lot of conflicts where I have to push this on stylists and directors because they will make certain clothes and say, ‘Well, everyone else is wearing this.’ I’m like, ‘I understand that, but unfortunately the others don’t look like me when I wear it.’ So we have to think about that, and with my body type, because it’s not really known in Bollywood. Not many girls have my body type.”

Despite the fact that directors and stylists often struggle to understand her perspective, Nora regularly advocates for her clothing choices. Ultimately, they agree to her preferences. “It’s hard for stylists and directors to understand where I’m coming from, but once I push and they get it, they’re like, ‘Okay, cool,’” Nora said. She further explained: “Unfortunately, if I wear what they wear, it would just take away from the choreography and the beauty of the dance, the beauty of the presence and the song.”

Nora Fatehi was last seen in the comedy Madgaon Express, which also featured Divyenndu, Avinash Tiwari and Pratik Gandhi. She will soon make her debut in the Telugu film industry with Matka, starring Meenakshi Chaudhary and Varun Tej.