Editor’s Note: Sameera Reddy’s social climb

As the editor of one of India’s most influential lifestyle magazines, the question I get asked often is this: “Can we do a cover?”

Everyone wants to be featured on the front page of HT Brunch—it’s the kind of validation a 100k likes can’t get.

But when I ask, “What’s the story?”, there’s silence before all that’s predictable.

Hrithik Roshan appeared on the HT Brunch cover with his two sons, talking about his life as a newly single dad; a pregnant Sania Mirza took questions on whether her child would be Indian or Pakistani, and whether it mattered; and Milind Soman and wife Ankita Konwar talked about how they make a marriage work between two people who are 26 years apart!

All these stories, plus many more, would pale in comparison to the inspiration today’s cover feature is set to put out.

Sameera Reddy is an actress and younger sibling to two well-known, great-looking older sisters: supermodel Sushma Reddy and VJ Meghna Reddy. Disclaimer: She’s also a personal friend and an old collegemate, one with whom I’ve shared the biggest insecurity of my life—body weight issues!

In our late teens, Sameera and I ran along Bandra’s sea-facing promenades every evening: she wanted to become an actress, I thought. I now know that, like me, she also wanted to conform to be accepted.

What are the odds that Sameera Reddy today is a bigger inspiration than she was as a mainstream Bollywood star? How did an actor, conforming to society’s set standards of [anorexic, fair-skinned, perfectly made-up] beauty, go from photoshopped magazine covers to becoming a champion of all that’s imperfect: showing off grey hair, calling out “folds of flab” in captions, and proudly displaying her stretch marks?

With over a million followers on Instagram, Sameera Reddy is one of the most striking symbols of body positivity in India today.

It didn’t come easy, she tells the writer of today’s cover story, Urvee Modwel, explaining how she hit rock bottom before she rose back up.

She took on a social media app known for its filters and turned it into her own. “Buddhi… old woman!” trolls called her when she put out her first photo with grey hair. But today, she says, “When I was an actress, men came up to me to talk. Now, women come up to me, give me hugs and tell me they love me. It feels so good when a woman gives you a compliment!”

Sameera’s influence is apparent as brands line up to sign up with her to be featured on her social media feed; one of them has even offered her reticent, businessman husband a joint campaign. Sameera’s a hands-on mother to two adorable kids (see pics on Page 11 for proof) and a Reels-collaborator with her 66-year-old mother-in-law!

Everything Sameera Reddy does sends out a message of acceptance, warmth and positivity. But the main sell is crystal clear: love yourself for all that you are. Only then will the world love you back.

Also in this issue: Nikhil Taneja’s mental health-focussed column, That Feeling When, gives adult anxiety the legitimacy it deserves. Vir Sanghvi writes about “Disco Sushi” and the rise of modern Japanese cuisine. And before you think we’re all highbrow and no fun, our Game Show brings together three of India’s top celebrity stylists, questions their quirks, then gets the launch editor of Vogue India to pick the one whose taste resonates with her.

A power-packed issue that is so much more than its cover, wouldn’t you agree?

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From HT Brunch, May 7, 2022

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