Katrina Kaif’s recent public appearance may have been just another celebrity outing, but social media quickly turned its attention to something far more personal: her body.

The actor, who became a mother last year, was seen with husband Vicky Kaushal at the Ambani family’s Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Mumbai on September 14.

Pictures and videos from the event soon made their way across social media, where some users commented on her post-pregnancy weight and compared her appearance with older pictures. The comments led to a wider conversation around the way women, particularly actresses, are expected to look unchanged despite ageing and major life changes.

Khushbu Sundar has now spoken up in support of Katrina, questioning why a woman’s body is treated as something the public has a right to examine and discuss.

In a lengthy post on X, Khushbu pointed out that the conversation around ageing is often very different for men and women. She questioned why a man can go bald, gain weight or turn grey without his appearance becoming a measure of whether he is still considered attractive, while women are often asked if they have “maintained themselves” or whether they are still in their “prime”.

“Who decided that a woman has a ‘prime’ and who gave society the authority to decide when she has passed it?” she wrote.

Khushbu also questioned the expectation that women should somehow preserve the appearance they had when they were younger.

“And why is a woman expected to remain frozen at the age at which the world first found her beautiful?” she asked.

‘A woman does not have a prime. She has a life’

Khushbu’s post also addressed the changes that come with motherhood. She pointed out that pregnancy and childbirth bring physical, hormonal and emotional changes, and argued that a woman’s appearance after giving birth should not become a subject of public judgement.

“A woman does not have a ‘prime.’ She has a life. And every age of that life belongs to her,” she wrote.

She also directly addressed Katrina, saying the actor does not owe anyone an explanation for her body, motherhood or weight.

“Katrina, you have always lived your life on your terms, with dignity, grace and self-respect. Continue to do exactly that,” Khushbu wrote.

Khushbu Shares her own experience with body-shaming

The actor-politician also brought up her own experiences with comments about her weight. Khushbu said she had faced ridicule when she was heavier and continues to encounter speculation about her body even after losing weight.

Her point was that women can seemingly never escape public commentary about their appearance. According to Khushbu, whether a woman gains weight, loses it, ages or goes through motherhood, there will always be people ready to question how she looks.

“We women are not answerable to every damn man who thinks he has the right to describe, dissect or define us,” she wrote.

Katrina has also spoken about beauty after motherhood

The backlash comes at a time when Katrina herself has been speaking about how motherhood has changed the way she looks at beauty and self-care.

In a recent interaction, she discussed changes to her skin after pregnancy and said her idea of looking her best has increasingly become connected to feeling healthy and comfortable rather than simply meeting an external beauty standard.

Katrina and Vicky married in December 2021 and welcomed their son, Vihaan Kaushal, on November 7, 2025. They announced his name and shared his first photograph in January this year.