The Magnificent Malaika

A charming tete-a-tete with Malaika Arora as she dons the role of cover star for First Look. Here’s to hope and hearts in a new fashion avatar.

We  caught up with our cover star and reality television judge, actor, dancer, entrepreneur and yogi, Malaika Arora, as she donned one eclectic look after another for the second edition of First Look. Setting the tone for the year 2022 is the self-articulated “wanderer in the world of fitness, fashion and food” Arora in an array of fresh new looks sporting a mix of celebrated Indian couturiers from Anamika Khanna to Rahul Mishra and Amit Aggarwal. Think bold new silhouettes, palettes and a mood to sail you through the next year and beyond.

FL: What kept you going through the last two years when the world around us and our lives changed? Did you pick up any new skill or turn to any new or forgotten pastime during this period?

MA: The last two years have affected different people differently. People have had different experiences with some having spent the worst two years of their lives. For me, personally though, I have to say that a lot of good has happened to me. I got to spend a lot of quality time at home with my family, my son, and my loved ones, basically a lot of time with the people that I love. Having said that, during and post my COVID stint, I was pretty broken as I worried about getting back to my regular rhythm. However. I figured it out sooner than later although each day felt like a challenge. I did that with the help of my trainers and yoga instructors. Other than that, I actually spent a lot of time cooking and reading. Reading is something which I had lost touch with completely, I don’t remember the last time I picked up a book. I finally got back to it during this time. I think with the amount of time I spent cooking I can now write a cookbook. I think a part of me had become very lazy about cooking, so I am really glad that I could graduate from being able to just cook for myself and my son to a lot of people. On the workfront, I feel so happy and blessed to be a part of the television industry because I have worked through these two years. I’m very happy with myself now, and I’m a lot more productive. I am glad that I got a lot of time to introspect. One thing that I realised during this period is how much I love being with myself. I really don’t need people around me 24/7.

FL: You are ageless. You look the same as you did 20 years ago. What is the secret to your beauty?

MA: I don’t think there’s any secret. Everybody has their own approach. One thing that I truly believe in is consistency. It’s also very important to constantly reinvent yourself and to stay updated of what’s happening around us in the industry. How I look externally really boils down to my lifestyle and my dedication to my lifestyle-be it working out on time, eating on time or sleeping on time. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink. I eat healthy. Having said that, it’s not like I don’t have my occasional drink here and there, but I don’t smoke at all and I generally stay away from indulgences. But when I say I eat healthy, I don’t mean dieting. What I mean is that I eat home-cooked food and I avoid eating out as much as I can. So, essentially I would pin it down to my lifestyle – my regular things-waking up early in the morning, doing yoga and pranayam every single day of my life. I swear by these habits just like I swear by eating one spoon of ghee everyday as I start my day. It has helped me over the years in terms of my skin and hair looking a certain way. I try to do a lot of inversions in yoga and I trust Ayurveda a lot. Of course, I love my chocolates. Oh yes, and I also love homemade hair, face and body masks.

“The last two years have affected different people differently. People have had different experiences with some having spent the worst two years of their lives. For me, personally though, I have to say that a lot of good has happened to me. I got to spend a lot of quality time at home with my family, my son, and my loved ones.”

– MALAIKA ARORA

“Waking up early in the morning, doing yoga and pranayam every single day of my life, I swear by these habits just like I swear by eating one spoon of ghee everyday as I start my day. It has helped me over the years in terms of my skin and hair looking a certain way.”

– MALAIKA ARORA

FL: Social media has also played a huge role during the past two years, and a lot of youngsters are creating content on social media. What are your views on this and have you also changed your game plan for social media?

MA: I always say social media is very relevant, it has its upsides and downsides. It’s very essential but at the same time you just have to use it as a tool, as a fun medium without taking it too seriously. I know a lot of people who earn their livelihoods from social media, and that’s fantastic. I use social media as a tool for my professional and personal life, it’s a little bit of both. During the last two years, I have used it more as a medium to express myself though, to share personal stuff-whether it was my workouts or cooking-the sort of things that I enjoyed doing during this time. It’s a great medium to promote and enhance your work. At the same time, social media can be extremely toxic and fake. So, you need to know where to draw the line. It’s essential to get away from it sometimes as it can get overwhelming. A lot of people get so completely taken by it, so I think for me it’s important to get off social media every once in a while. I kind of balance as much as I can. Every Sunday, when I go through the weekly social media consumption review, I’m the happiest when I see my screen time is down. And the minute I see my screen time has gone up for a week, I feel like I wasted my time. I know a lot of people have expressed themselves and spoken about important issues like mental health through social media. People have leveraged it as a platform to talk. However, it’s important to balance.

FL: Talking about fashion, you have always been a fashion icon. What is style for you personally? Also, how do you define fashion?

MA: I have always been a denim person, I love my jeans. I have always said that my jeans, white shirt and ganjee have been my staple forever. I love athleisure. I think I am the most grateful for athleisure because it’s so convenient. I feel it kind of goes well with my body type. I kind of fluctuate as my style is mostly mood-driven. I don’t put in a lot of effort, I don’t put in a lot of thought. I love my kaftan, I love my jeans, I love my tracks.

FL: Who are your go-to designers in India and abroad?

MA: I love Anamika Khanna, Amit Aggarwal and Rahul Mishra. I love wearing Manish Malhotra saris. Among international brands, I love wearing Gucci and Fendi. among others. On the other end of the spectrum, I love global high-street brands Forever 21, Zara, and H&M. I might pair a Valentino blouse with Zara jeans. I love my share of Gucci and Fendi-I love what they have done over the years. I love athleisure, I live in Reebok! At the end of the day, a lot of the credit goes to the stylists, they are the ones who really put it all together. Of course, we all have our sense of personal style, I mean without my personal style, we would be lost. I’m very aware of what looks good on me, on what looks good on my personal style. Having said that, I would still give a lot of credit to the stylists.

FL: What’s the bag that you are carrying right now, and the one that you carry and love a lot?

MA: I love Gucci. The bigger the bag the happier I am. Most of the bags that I own are gifts, and they are really large.

FL: What is your favourite place to travel to? Are you a beach person or a mountain person and did you miss international travelling during the last two years?

MA: I am a complete beach person. In the last two years, we discovered Alibaug (Maharashtra) and thank god for that. So, we have done a lot of Alibaug stays and I think it’s an amazing getaway. Goa is a place where I love going to. I would say it has got everything from amazing food, to an amazing vibe and amazing places to stay in and of course, great beaches. But when I need to detox and cut off from everything, Maldives is my place. I am a very Maldives kind of person. I love New York. I love Italy, it is my most special place. As far as international travelling is concerned, I actually didn’t miss it much and kept pushing it even though I had the opportunity until the tour I undertook just sometime back.

FL: What are your views on romance and is there anything that you would like to say about your relationship?

MA: We are just comfortable with each other. We just get each other. He is my biggest cheerleader, my forever friend. my sounding board. For me, he is the most solid person in my life, and I never have a dull moment around him. I would say he is the most sorted, grounded person in my life. I think we just complement each other. I think for any relationship, it’s important to be friends and we are friends first. We can tell each other anything. I think you need to have those lines of communication open. We can really talk and we love our silences as well. He is somebody who understands how much I need my ‘me time’.

FL: You also have a solid girl group for support from your sister (Amrita Arora) to Kareena (Kapoor Khan).

MA: Yes, personally, I’m surrounded by women. We love hanging out with each other. We want the best for each other. I’m one of those girls who genuinely love having a lot of women around her from my mother, to my sister, my girlfriends and even my team that consists of mostly women. I’m a firm believer of women supporting each other. When we support each other, we can really change the world.

FL: What’s next for you in 2022?

MA: I started off with fitness, then gravitated to food, starting my own food line with Nude Bowls (delivery-only healthy food line). Basically, I just love the wellness space that I’m in, I’m very passionate about it. I want to keep adding something new to the wellness space. I want to have my own line of clothing as well. I really want to work hard on Nude Bowls, introducing people to different kinds of food, the kind of food that I enjoy having. I would also like to move into the content creation space and collaborate with like-minded people.

“I just love the wellness space that I’m in, I’m very passionate about it. I want to keep adding something new to the wellness space. I want to have my own line of clothing as well. I really want to work hard on Nude Bowls, introducing people to different kinds of food, the kind of food that I enjoy having.”

– MALAIKA ARORA