Many Industry People Made Me Feel Bad About My Looks and Colour, Says Esha Gupta

Esha Gupta, who began her acting career with successful crime thriller Jannat 2, and subsequently went on to appear in hit films such as Raaz 3D, Rustom and Baadshao, revealed that she initially struggled a lot to break her glamorous image in Bollywood.

"There were a lot of people who made me feel bad about my colour and how I look and I'm talking about (the people) in this industry. They were like, 'Oh, she is hot!' I mean everything is real in my body. It's the Punjabi genes that I have. So, how I look is not my fault. My colour is not my fault. If I talk a certain way, it's not my fault because it is the person I am," says Esha.

She says the day she began embracing the way she looked naturally was when better roles started coming her way.

"I realised after a point that I don't need to fight who I am. I accepted that I don't need to be ashamed of who I am and just start accepting. That's when amazing work started coming whether it was a role from Rustom, Baadshaho, One Day or Total Dhamaal. They were all strong roles. I feel the moment you start accepting your flaws and make them into your positive, no one can hurt you. If someone now comes and says, 'oh my god, she only knows how to look hot,' then I would say that there are a lot of people who try so hard to look hot but they can't and if it's something that comes naturally to a girl who is not even trying then, hurray!"

The actress is all set to make a digital debut with Goldie Behl's teen musical thriller REJCTX season 2, in which she plays the role of an investigation officer.

"When I saw the first season I didn't know Goldie as director. I really liked the show because of the fact that not everyone is okay picking up a script on actually what is going on in teenagers' lives. People are kind of neglecting that and right now we have the best example of it which is in news-- the Bois Locker Room. That is what teenagers go through, thanks to their exposure to the digital world.

"Today's kids are very messed up and they are not mature enough to handle situations. For them the peer pressure becomes too much because of the online bullying. They don't want to open up about actual issues and that's why they feel depressed and alienated. So, it's a show that really excited me and the moment it came to me and I read the script, I thanked Goldie for considering me for the role of officer Rene. I really wanted to get into the web and I got a lot of offers but I didn't get great offers and that's when this series came,” says Esha.

The show also features Ahmed Masi Walia, Anisha Victor, Ayush Khurana and Sumeet Vyas in important roles.