Esha Deol recalls being compared to mother Hema Malini, body shamed after debut: 'They would say a lot about my...'

Esha Deol comes from a family of superstars. Her father Dharmendra and mother Hema Malini ruled Bollywood for a long time. The actress recently recalled compared to her mother after her debut film and revealed her mother's advice. 

In an interview with Zoom, Esha Deol said that she was “very excited” about starting work in the movies, however, “the pressure pump started after the films released and things were written. Then I was like, they are comparing me in my first film to my mother who has done 200 films. And they would say a lot about my baby fat. ‘Oh, she has so much baby fat’. I had, I was 18, those cheeks were there. But they looked cute in those roles, the kind of roles that I did, I thought they looked nice.”

She further recalled her mother Hema Malini's response, 'golden tip' and said, "Then I had a chat with my mom. I told her that I was getting a little overwhelmed and these things are being written. I don’t know how to handle it but it’s affecting me. Then she said ‘why are you here?’ I said I have always wanted to join movies and act and this is something I have been wanting to do since I was a kid. She said ‘just focus on the goal, this is going to be part of it, you are my daughter, there is going to be constant comparisons. If you are going to let it affect you, then you are in the wrong profession, if you can handle it, then continue.’ So that was a golden tip that I got." 

Esha Deol made her Bollywood debut Vinay Shukla's Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe (2002) opposite Aftab Shivdasani, with Sanjay Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan and Anupam Kher playing supporting roles. However, the film flopped at the box office. The actress hit to flop film ratio was quite low and thus, after a brief career, she took a break from acting and turned producer. However, she made a comeback with the series Hunter alongside Suniel Shetty. 

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