Whenever we think of plastic surgery, the thing that comes to our mind is the celebrity face. Plastic surgery came across me with Michael Jackson, his makeover made the biggest headlines in the media. Over time, Jackson’s facial structure changed. He had a forehead lift, cheekbone surgery and altered his lips. Those close to the singer estimated that, by 1990, he had undergone around ten such surgeries. For us, it was the greatest excitement and curiosity. But when he died despite having a battalion of doctors at his disposal, I realised one thing very strongly that the surgeries can make us look young but they won’t add years to our life.
One of the most obvious parts of Michael Jackson’s transformation was the change in skin colour.
Many claimed Michael Jackson did this to become more “white” and accepted, while Micheal Jackson took to the Oprah show in America to say that he had an underlying skin condition, which unfortunately many did not believe. The autopsy reports support Micheal Jackson as it was noted there were areas of normal pigment and areas of hyperpigmentation- typical of a condition known as vitiligo where patients lose pigment.
Here in Bollywood losing pigment is a deliberate choice, Complexion is a much-stressed topic especially if it involves Women. India is obsessed with fair complexion and has not left anyone apart. Many have now been fighting that being racist and worrying about skin tone should not be an issue and that dusky or wheat complexion has the same beauty to it. But still, they chose to look fair.
Kajol is known for her dusky complexion but one can spot a significant change in her skin tone. She went from dusky to white, but she dismisses that she got medical help and says it was a home remedy. One of the newspapers published an article about the craze of skin whitening Injections in actresses. Glutathione has a big market in India. Even though making use of IV glutathione injections is the most popular one, you will see many females popping those Gluta tablets. Each one of us wants to look beautiful and fair like cinema actresses.
Late actress Sridevi underwent multiple surgeries to look young but died also young. These days almost all celebrities are undergoing one or the other surgery to upgrade their looks. Priyanka Chopra is called Plastic Chopra by the media. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan revealed that “fake and plastic” are the worst comments she has heard about herself. Many such actresses are accused of looking static and artificial. Many of those who have undergone beautification surgeries are satisfied with the genuine improvements in their body image and greater satisfaction with their position in life after cosmetic surgery.
Plastic surgery may not add years to your life, but it can add life to your looks. Cosmetic surgery is mostly misunderstood as plastic surgery. Most people think that Plastic Surgery comprises the most popularly known surgeries that film actors have had so that they can retain their youthful appearance. However even though they are closely related specialities, technically, there is a fine divide between Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery.
The Cosmetic Surgeon aims to aesthetically improve a patient’s looks and hence the procedures, principles and techniques used to focus entirely on this outcome. The goal is to improve the proportion, aesthetic appeal and evenness of the body part on which a procedure is being performed. Cosmetic surgery can be performed on all areas of the body, including the head and neck. It is a voluntary choice made by the patient to have cosmetic surgery.
The main focus of Plastic surgery is to set the right defects to reconstruct to provide a natural appearance and restore normal functions of the body part that is being operated upon. It is defined as a surgical speciality that involves the reconstruction of facial and body flaws due to birth, burns, diseases and trauma. The goal of plastic surgery is to reconstruct and enable dysfunctional body parts to function in their normal and natural mode. Whereas through cosmetic surgery you can decide how you want your nose to be or cheeks to be or look to be. It also gives you the choice to look younger, but unfortunately, it does not give you the choice to live longer.
Influencers, Hollywood, Bollywood, the silver screen, social media celebrities and internet famous personalities have done the duty of getting that plastic surgery and flaunting it without a second thought. No hiding it all, no one being discreet, some even promoting it. With the Internet, advancements in technology and medical tourism these are easily accessible and affordable for anyone, hence the “norm”.
Let me sum up with a famous dialogue of Rakhi Sawant, the small-time actress who has a big social media presence, “What God has not given that doctors can give when it comes to your looks and body.”
