WHEN ADITI RAO HYDARI did the gaja gamini walk in ‘Saiyaan Hatto Jaao’ from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (web series; 2024), it went viral, probably for sensual reasons. But, more important, Hydari flaunting her back flabs in that barely 10-second tukda (piece) in the song was an ode to body inclusivity―it made many a woman feel seen.
For someone in the business of looking good 24/7, Hydari seems quite comfortable in her skin. And, that perhaps comes from listening to her body. “It is really important to listen to your body and what it requires,” she said in a conversation with Chief Associate Editor & Director Riyad Mathew at THE WEEK Best Hospitals Awards event. “I remember I was shooting with Mani (Ratnam) sir in -16°in Serbia. I was surrounded by snow. I was in a thin sari and a skirt and a backless (blouse), and basically going blue, green, all colours. And there was no makeup on my face. And I felt like eating butter. I needed butter. So I ate it. I didn’t put (on kilos), now that is my genetic makeup. But my body needed it. And I did not deny myself. I ate it happily, big chunks of it. But the thing is, each person’s body tells them something else. I also think it is very important to keep your body clean. We all talk about gut, gut instinct, but first your gut has to be clear to have an instinct.”
That genetic makeup Hydari spoke about, one must say, is diverse. “I am so multicultural. Like I have Telangana ancestry. I have Mangalorean ancestry. And I have Bohri ancestry,” said the “poster-child of national integration” with a legacy of royalty from her maternal side and of nobility from her paternal side. While her gut can thank her mixed genetics, she credits her mother for tricking her into believing that healthy food was the yummiest. “I was brought up on hand-pounded rice and avocado salads with cranberries,” she revealed. “And it was sold to me like the most delicious thing ever. I just grew up believing that. And today, it is not a big deal for me to pick something that is healthy, but also yummy.”
That does not mean that Hydari does not like her Hyderabadi biryani or haleem; she loves them. She knows not to gorge on them. So when Riyad Mathew asked her if it was okay to cheat, she cheekily replied, “It is not okay to cheat, but it is okay to cheat with your food. When your body is calling out for chocolate, eat it. But just do not eat a gallon. Give yourself that chocolate and feel happy. If you want biryani, eat it. And don’t keep punishing yourself for eating that biryani.”
Aditi Rao Hydari and Riyad Mathew | Bhanu Prakash Chandra
That fun banter between Hydari and Mathew continued when she said that she has a shot in the morning. Mathew did a double take and asked, “What shot?” And, she shot back with, “I said that on purpose. What do you think? So, like a healthy shot―ginger, pepper and gooseberry.” She also has a hot concoction of ginger, clove, cinnamon and more. And she swears by her bullet coffee―an espresso shot with either coconut oil or MCT oil and ghee―“because I feel the need to smile for a minimum of 15 hours every day and because nobody deserves a cranky actor”. She does intermittent fasting most days, but when her body needs, say an idli or sarson ka saag with dollops of butter, she gives in happily. If husband Siddharth is cooking, then fasting surely flies out of the window. “He is an excellent cook,” she gushed. “And when he has a free day, there are many, many, many people who will be like, ‘Sid, will you cook for us?’ And he does. He makes incredible food, but he cooks more non-vegetarian and maybe Tamil food.” That means her dinner is usually light, with either millets or soup or cutlets.
Hydari clearly loves food. But it was not just good, healthy food that she was exposed to from a young age. Her mother being a Hindustani classical singer took her to every musical and dance concert. No wonder Hydari wanted to learn Bharatanatyam when she was all of four. “A lot of my mother’s friends are artists, sculptors, architects. I grew up around a lot of artistic people and academics,” she recalled. “So, I decided that I wanted to dance, and I refused to take no for an answer. I landed up at my teacher’s class when I was four or something. And she said, ‘She is too little.’ But I just would not take no for an answer. And I would land up every day till she called my mother and said, ‘Okay, fine, I will just start teaching her.’”
Not just Bharatanatyam, Hydari was also exposed to kalaripayattu and yoga growing up. All those moves and stretches have kept her fit. But what about the mind? In an industry where one’s fate could change every Friday and where fame is fickle, Hydari has found a way to stay steady. “It is not just us who deal with ups and downs,” she said. “Every human being does. It is just that with us, it tends to be very public. I am lucky that I have a great support system with family and friends. I make sure that I have the right people around me. I think that is the first thing.”
The second thing, said Hydari, was to root oneself. “We say, ‘fly, dream, do all of that’, but constantly root yourself,” she said. “When I am going through something that is causing me a lot of (pain), you know what I do? I actually just cry. And I think it is so important to be able to do that. And so important to be comfortable doing that. Some people have rage. Everybody has different kinds of outlets. But I think your outlet is something that you should be comfortable with. I am a five-year-old, so I cry. But as fast as I cry, I will also laugh. I am okay to be vulnerable. And I am comfortable being that. And the people around me allow that.”
Hydari also turns to music, dance, yoga to find her way out of a funk. She insists that it is important to not walk on eggshells around issues that should be spoken about comfortably and freely and to normalise them. “There is so much healing in sharing,” she said. “And I think that is part of the process of healing, and also access to the right people.”
Apart from having a community, Hydari believes that it is also important to have a sense of self and comfort in oneself. Especially in a world that wants to make cookie-cutter models out of us. “We all come in different shapes and sizes,” she said. “There are friends of mine who struggle with weight. And it is a reality. We have these factory prototypes of what is conventionally acceptable and not. And various sort of people tell us these things. But I think it is up to us to decide when we feel our best. And I don’t think anybody can dictate that to you.”
Like her Instagram bio reads: In a world full of Kardashians, be an Audrey.