My body, my choice, my money: Koena Mitra on prosthetics enhancement [Exclusive]

Model turned actor Koena Mitra has always been vocal about her stance in the industry and never shies away from speaking up for what is right.

Remember the time when Koena Mitra grabbed headlines for prosthetics surgery going wrong, media went all out and flashed all possible stories about her failed plastic surgery and the bone swelling caused by the surgery. However, the fearless actress didn't care about those 'fake stories' created by media and continued working with head held high.

In an exclusive conversation with IBTimes, Koena Mitra spills the beans on how she dealt with the phase especially when masses and media trolled her for the plastic surgery, whether she regrets anything in life and more.

Mitra's unabashed and unbiased views are worth giving a read!

When the news of your plastic surgery broke, the media went berserk. How did you handle those personal remarks?

No, I didn't really mind. So, it was my choice, my body, my money, my fame. You know so many people around us go for prosthetics enhancement. They don't have to be movie stars or models or TV actors to go for prosthetics enhancement anyone can do for satisfaction or happiness.

I was in the news because my case was different as I had bone swelling, and my body reacted to it. Bone swelling takes a lot of time to heal almost 7- 8 months. Though I am a media face, I didn't care, I went out, I was working, and I was getting work. Industry people didn't care. For media , it was an Olympic game, unko new bakra mila tha.

No one openly talks about it. So the media choose me, they exploited me and ran as many fake stories as they could. Mujhe gussa tha that they are running counterfeit reports. Therefore, I became stubborn, and I didn't want to give them statements or clarify or talk anything about it. After a year, I came out and spoke about it to a leading media organisation. I spoke about it only when I became comfortable.

Media ka loyalties nai hai, badh mein statement diya, they started talking positively about me. They  started taking Koena Mitra's name as an example whenever they wanted to address any issue related to surgery. Be it male of male actors or female actors they would compare. The media started to say; it takes a Koena to come out and speak up etc. What I want to say here is no one needs to be attacked, it's their choice to be silent or speak up. No one should be forced. I was upset and disappointed because certain media shared fake stories. I have issues with news channels running fake stories. I wasn't ashamed of my accident. I was tired of seeing so many stories revolving around me.

Any regrets in life?

I have no regrets we all go through ups and downs in life. It's just that media and social media highlight the celebrities and stars' failures and downfalls.

People on social media or media, they don't think about actor's mental health, they celebrate our failures, accident or trauma anything that goes wrong with us is blown out of proportion. My question is, does the media write about their families or their failures like they tarnish our image. We are bullied and discriminated. A lot of media and journalist write blind stories without giving a damn about our families, failures happen, and failure is not the end of road, its a part of success.

The public and the media start talking about us. If a cricketer loses a match, they are bullied online while the same person had so many victories earlier. Our life, sickness, health, job, career, personal life, everything becomes a media circus.