Desi Folks Must Curb Their Habit Of Doling Out Unsolicited Criticism To Celebrity Brides

Whenever a couple gets married, the desi janta almost involuntarily shares their opinions on everything related to the wedding, especially the bride. This is further amplified when a celebrity wedding happens and a celebrity bride’s look is scrutinised by the general public.

The public discourse around such events tends to not be kind or gracious, and can be downright critical of what the bride was wearing, what she looked like, and what she could have done better. For those who don’t understand why that is problematic and needs to stop, allow us to explain.

Celebrities’ bridal looks shouldn’t be compared to on screen ones

Credit: Instagram.com/aliaabhatt, Dharma Productions

Celebrities wear loads of glamourous clothes and heavy makeup everyday for their job and people associate this look with them. So, the audience expects flashiness from their bridal looks because their perception of celebrities is such. Have people considered the fact that that might not be what they personally want to look like?

Maybe Kiara Advani or Alia Bhatt or Anushka Sharma really wanted to look natural and simple on a day that is about their love, their true personality, and not their job. Maybe they did not want to look like the brides they played on screen with red lipstick, smokey eyes, gold shararas and red lehengas.

But people jump to call these looks “underwhelming” or “boring”, not realising that it is an intimate choice celebs are making. So, nearly every celebrity’s wedding look, especially today when natural and minimal are the central themes of celebrity weddings, are dismissed as not opulent enough. The dramatically extra and over-the-top ensembles they wear on screen are what they are expected to opt for.

Credit: Instagram.com/kiaraaliaadvani

By contrast, a non-celebrity does not wear fancy clothes or lots of makeup on a daily basis. So their wedding day becomes that one day when they really dress up and want to look glamourous. It’s not like that for a celebrity, especially an actress.

When they’re playing a role and wearing clothes for a character to create a persona for a movie or music video, they are doing it because their job requires it. When they are getting married, they are not playing a character who wears red lipstick and blue eyeliner—they are being themselves. This is why so many celebrities today opt for the simplest wedding looks—they just want their own self to shine through, not a glamourous version of their on screen persona.

A wedding is deeply personal & intimate, even for public figures

Credit: Instagram.com/kiaraaliaadvani

People forget that weddings, celebrity or otherwise, are actually very private, personal, and intimate events. It is all about what makes the bride feel good and like herself, be it the outfit or makeup. Clothes are chosen not based on what everyone else is expecting, but what resonates with the bride or groom, and helps them express themselves via their look on their big day. It’s a special day that is about the feelings between the two people tying the knot. It’s not done for external validation.

Isn’t it cruel to make it an excuse to rip apart someone’s personal choices? Their individual wedding look is beyond the purview of their “duties” as public figures, despite being consumed by the public with such gusto.

Celebrities don’t get married to become fashion & beauty goals

Credit: Instagram.com/aliaabhatt

Nobody wakes up and says, “Let me be legally bound to this person because I want to set a fashion trend with my lehenga,” not even celebrities. So why is it treated like some sort of pageant the public has to rate?

Even though beautiful celebrity weddings often inspire us and set trends inadvertently, we’re pretty sure they don’t do it to start trends. That is why one should hold the critique here because a person is not getting married to provide fashion inspiration or beauty goals to the public. It’s a different thing if they unintentionally do, but to criticise them for not wearing what you expected them to is a low blow.

Credit: Instagram.com/anushkasharma

Criticising brides reeks of misogyny even outside the celebrity space

Judging people and passing comments is not alien in our culture, especially when it is directed towards women. We’re talking about celebrity weddings, but if one looks around at any regular wedding, one will see the same thing.

Desi wedding guests sit with their snacks and cold drinks on someone’s special day only to pass judgements on what the bride is wearing, what she should have done differently, and how she looks. And yes, it happens more to women because women are expected to please everyone and pass all tests constantly. The wedding industry places infinitely more pressure on brides than on grooms, so she becomes the topic of discussion.

Isn’t it unfair to always put women at the receiving end of this? Is it too much to ask people to be kinder with their words during such occasions and not mar someone’s happy day with their negative inputs, especially on someone’s wedding day?

Lead image credit: Instagram.com/kiaraaliaadvani, Instagram.com/aliaabhatt

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