Media and beauty stereotypes: review of the film Double XL

Abstract

Double XL (Satram, 2022) is a film about obese women who are shamed because of their body weight. The lead characters in this film are portrayed by Sonakshi Sinha (as Saira Khanna) and Huma Qureshi (as Rajshree Trivedi). Except for Dum Laga Ke Haisha (Katariya, 2015) which is also referenced in the current film, female body stereotyping in mainstream Hindi Bollywood movies has not been widely discussed until the release of Double XL. In the beginning of the film, the audience get a few glimpses into the lives of these two women and their stories eventually intersect, changing their journeys and outlook about themselves and the world around them. Rajshree Trivedi, a 30-year-old Meerut woman, has always dreamt to be a sports presenter since childhood. She even dreams of dancing with the Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan in one scene. Though a graduate from Kanpur University’s mass communication program, she has not been able to realise her dreams. Despite Rajshree’s disinterest, her mother’s main concern is marrying her overweight daughter as she herself has been a victim of body shaming. When Rajshree is shortlisted for an audition to become a sports presenter for a Delhi-based media organization, the media head (Jimmy Shergill) rejects her photographs because she is overweight. In one of the initial scenes, Rajshree mentions having a few thousand social media followers. Though she says this with pride, the statement is ironic. In India, where females creating cringe worthy obscene content can have millions of followers, it is sad that Rajshree could not boast of it since the public might not want to see a female talking sense because she is fat and considered unattractive. The other lead character Saira Khanna is a London-born woman who moved to India with her mother and older brother after her father’s death. She is a Delhi-based fashion designer who finds herself at a standstill after breaking up with her model boyfriend. Without the latter’s help, she is clueless as to how she can make her dream of a fashion shoot come true. The main reason of this split is portrayed as her being obese and her boyfriend cheating on her with a slimmer girl who is considered more beautiful and sexually attractive.