Anushka Sharma joins PETA India to promote healthy, humane meat-free meals

Anushka Sharma is the latest Bollywood actress to feature on the ad of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. She says that she is a vegetarian, which makes her healthier and energetic.

Smiling joyfully into the camera and looking pristine in a NUSH outfit, popular actor and film producer Anushka Sharma stars in a new campaign for PETA India that proclaims, "I Am Anushka Sharma, and I'm a Vegetarian." The ad, available here, was shot by ace photographer Mazen Abusrour.

The latest PETA ad is also available here in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Urdu. In a statement to media, Bollywood actress praised the benefits of meat-free meals "Going vegetarian was one of the best decisions I ever made," says Anushka Sharma, adding, "I have more energy, I feel healthier, and I'm so happy that no animals had to suffer for my meals."

Anushka Sharma shared her photo on Twitter and wrote, "The only way forward for me is through a way in which I take care of the world around me and co-exist with my environment. This is the best decision I've made and I am content with the knowledge that I've made a little difference in the world in this way. @PetaIndia

As PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to eat" – reveals in its video exposé "Glass Walls", chickens killed for food are shackled upside down and their throats are slit. Cows and buffaloes are crammed into vehicles in such large numbers that their bones break before they're dragged off to the slaughterhouse, and pigs are stabbed in the heart as they scream. On the decks of fishing boats, fish suffocate or are cut open while they're still alive.

Anushka Sharma has been a vegetarian for three and half years. She was named PETA India's Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity in 2015 and its Person of the Year in 2017. Among other efforts to help animals, she has announced plans to open an animal shelter near Mumbai, launched the PAWsitive campaign to raise awareness that animals suffer when people set off firecrackers during Diwali and demanded a ban on cruel carriage rides in Mumbai.

Anushka Sharma has joined Lara Dutta, Sonu Sood, Shahid Kapoor, Esha Gupta, R Madhavan, and many other celebrities who have teamed up with PETA India to promote healthy, humane meat-free meals.