Aditi Rao Hydari was her usual sparkling self at THE WEEK Best Hospitals Awards ceremony in Telangana. In a session with the magazine’s chief associate editor and director, Riyad Mathew, Hydari spoke about her fitness regimen, what being healthy means to her and how important it is to “listen to your body”.
She said she was lucky to be born in a multicultural family and called herself “the poster child for national integration”. Her mother “tricked” her into believing that healthy food was the best thing in the world, she said. That was her initiation into the conviction that healthy food can be yummy, too.
She spoke about the importance of Bollywood insiders coming out about their mental health struggles. “There can be so much healing in sharing,” she said. “It is important to normalise what people are going through.” She stressed the need to have a sense of self and be comfortable with oneself.
When Mathew asked her how she deals with the ups and downs in Bollywood, she said her secret is having the right people around her—those who keep her grounded.
It’s ok when people tell you to “fly” and “dream”, she said. But it is just as important to have an outlet that you are comfortable with. When she feels bad, sometimes she just cries. “But just as fast as that, I also laugh,” she said.
She feels that fad diets are “soul-sapping”. They can put you in a bad mood with your hormones going completely awry. It is important to listen to your body. “Know what it is that your body requires,” she said. Although she does intermittent fasting, she does not deny herself treats. “Wherever you are, you must try the local food of that region,” she said.
She loves South Indian food. Recently she was shooting with a French crew, and when she heard that a South Indian caterer was on set, she walked out of her van and “proudly served everyone as though I had cooked it myself,” she says. And it does not hurt that her husband Sidharth is “an incredible cook”.