Sahil Khattar: Please don’t judge people on being bald

MUMBAI: Be it Ayushmann Khurrana in Bala or Akshay Kumar in Housefull 4, a lot of attempts have been made to get people to accept balding as part of life. Actor Sahil Khattar, who has always slayed his bald look, recently came up with the idea of a vox pop on the same. “The USP of the vox pop is to raise awareness about body shaming. Yes, the word is body shaming. You must be thinking that how can body-shaming be related to balding? Body shaming is all about fat people and if you talk about a person's color than it is racism. What people need to understand is that balding is also another physical condition. You call it balding, I call it being follically challenged, it's another physical condition,” he says.

He adds, “It’s high time to assure people that it’s okay to be bald. Being bald is as okay as being tall or short, it’s just a condition. Balding has nothing to do with your success in life. For example, both Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan are successful, and one is tall while the other is short.” However, the actor says it’s totally natural to be conscious of how you look. “People feel conscious, everybody goes for treatments to get their hair back. It's totally cool. The idea of coming up with a video like this is that there should be no judgment. We are born with certain features and lack some features, how we spin these in our favor is up to us,” he says.

In fact, it was his bald look which helped him bag in a role in Kabir Khan’s 83, where he plays the role of cricketer Sayed Kirmani. “I was very happy when they told me that I would be playing the role of Sayed Kirmani. Kabir khan actually believed that a bald guy should play a bald guy’s role because they wanted the casting to be as real as possible. I am thankful as because of this, I got an amazing Bollywood debut. I am so happy as there was a time when bald actors didn’t get any work in the industry. I remember Anupam Kher had told a story of how Saransh was taken from him and given to Shatrugun Sinha. Amrish Puri also used wigs. I am happy this has changed now,” he says.

Sahil adds that it is only in the Indian society where being bald is considered as a taboo and that needs to change. “Balding is a taboo in Indian society. People decide to shave their heads in Indian society because of 2-3 reasons. One is when they lose an elder person in their family, mostly their fathers. And the other is when they have an illness like cancer. So, people react to others going bald subconsciously. Now, these things are not there abroad. They don’t care about the appearance, they care about how the person is and what he is doing. They don’t discriminate on the basis of such things (being bald). Look at The Rock, he is the highest-paid actor in the world and is recognized on all three mediums across the globe; films, TV and the web. I want to follow that. He started with wrestling and look where he has reached. He has a billion-dollar empire and roams around in jets. Look at Jason Statham, Johnny Sins, he is such a good porn star, gets the most action, Pitbull, Vin diesel… They have no taboo (in the west), they (these stars) have a billion followers. I don’t know when these things will seep into the Indian society. I hope there comes a wave in Bollywood wherein bald people will be considered to helm a film on their shoulders and lead it,” he says.