Hema Malini recalls being rejected early in career for being ‘too slim’

Hema Malini once shared a personal story about the tough start she faced in films. Long before she became Bollywood’s ‘Dream Girl’, she was turned away from a Tamil film because she was considered “too slim” for the role.

The actress spoke about this experience years ago on the talk show ‘Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai,’ hosted by the late Farooq Shaikh. She explained that she was still new to acting when the offer came her way.

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Coming from a background in classical dance, she relied on her expressions and gestures while performing. But according to her, this style did not match what the director expected from a film actress.

Adding to that, her slim figure was seen as unsuitable for the South Indian audience of that time. Back then, actresses with a fuller body type were considered more appealing.

Hema admitted that this rejection left her upset and feeling like she had failed.

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“I was absolutely new to acting. There were no proper training schools at that time. I only knew dance, so I performed the way I would in a dance show. But they didn’t think it was right. On top of that, I was very thin. For the South, heroines were usually on the healthier side. I wasn’t like that. So, they felt I was not right for the role,” Hema had shared on the show.

Even though she was hurt at the time, Hema now looks at the moment with a sense of relief. She said it was probably good that the film didn’t happen, because it allowed her to find her true path in cinema later.

Still, she admitted that back then, she took it very personally. “It felt like a failure for me,” she recalled.