Mumbai: Actor-producer Patralekhaa on Friday hit back at paparazzi for body-shaming her postpartum look after a video of he went viral with an insensitive caption.
The controversy erupted when a paparazzi page posted a clip of her stepping out of her car, captioned, “What’s happened to her?” with her husband Rajkummar Rao seen walking behind.
Taking to Instagram Stories, Patralekhaa criticised the remark, speaking about the realities of a woman’s body after childbirth, stating such changes are a natural part of the postpartum phase and called for more empathy.
“What’s happened to me!? is that I have just given birth! Yes I have gained the weight, which seems like an unnatural phenomenon to you all,” she wrote.
She further clarified that the weight gain was not a result of overeating but a natural outcome of pregnancy, adding that she is still coming to terms with the changes.
In a longer note, Patralekhaa also highlighted the physical and emotional challenges she has been navigating during this phase.
“I have not sat and eaten a mountain, I just delivered a baby and produced two films simultaneously which are not easy jobs. If I could I would not be this way. But that’s how my body has reacted to pregnancy. For God’s sake please learn to be a little kind,” she added.
The episode has once again reignited conversations around body-shaming and the unrealistic expectations often placed on women, particularly during the postpartum phase.
Several celebrities, including Neha Dhupia, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, and Ranbir Kapoor, have previously spoken out against intrusive or insensitive behaviour by paparazzi.
Patralekhaa and Rajkummar welcomed their first child, a daughter, on November 15, 2025. The couple named her Parvati Paul Rao, in memory of Rao’s late mother.
After dating for several years, Rajkummar proposed to Patralekhaa in October 2021, and the couple tied the knot the same year in November in an intimate ceremony attended by close friends and family.
