Mumbai, 25 Oct

Bollywood star Alia Bhatt on Friday strongly hit back at claims circulating in online videos and clickbait articles that she had a botched Botox procedure.

The "Jigra" actor posted a lengthy statement on her Instagram Stories and said the rumours about her undergoing a cosmetic surgery are "beyond ridiculous" and "damaging".

"Absolutely NO JUDGEMENT towards anyone who chooses cosmetic corrections or surgery-your body, your choice. But wow, this is beyond ridiculous! To the random video floating around literally claiming I've had Botox gone wrong (and to the numerous clickbait articles) - I have a 'crooked smile' and a 'weird way of speaking' according to YOU," she said.

"This is your hypercritical, microscopic judgment of a human face. And now you're confidently tossing around 'scientific' explanations, claiming I'm paralysed on one side? Are you kidding me?" she added.

Bhatt, 31, criticised that "serious claims" about her are being "casually thrown out there with zero proof, no confirmation, and absolutely nothing to back it up".

"What's worse, you're influencing young, impressionable minds who might actually believe this garbage. Why are you saying this? For clickbait? Attention? Because none of it makes sense," she added.

The actor said women are often judged through an "absurd lens" and are objectified on the internet for "our faces, bodies, personal lives, even our bumps".

"We should be celebrating individuality, not tearing it apart under a microscope. These types of judgments perpetuate unrealistic standards, making people feel like they're never 'enough' It's damaging, and it's exhausting," she added.

What is even more saddening is that such kinds of judgement is perpetuated by women, Bhatt said.

"Whatever happened to 'live and let live'? To 'everyone has the right to their own choices'? Instead, we've become so accustomed to picking each other apart that it's almost normalised.

"Meanwhile just another day of even thorougher entertainment with scripts made up by the Internet," she concluded the statement.

Bhatt was most recently seen in filmmaker Vasan Bala's "Jigra", which released in theatres earlier this month. She will be next seen in action movie "Alpha" with Sharvari.-PTI