Jacqueline Fernandez and Riteish Deshmukh Are PETA India’s ‘Most Beautiful Vegetarian Celebrities’ of 2024

In recognition of their actions for animals, actors Jacqueline Fernandez and Riteish Deshmukh – who is vegan – are the latest stars to win the title of Most Beautiful Vegetarian Celebrities from PETA India.

Using her massive star power to advocate for the protection of all animals, Fernandez has rallied her fans to support PETA India’s work in numerous ways, including the #FreeGajraj campaign, following which an elephant who was kept in chains for more than 50 years was rescued. Fernandez has also encouraged people to adopt dogs in need from animal shelters and eat vegan foods, starred in an ad campaign against the use of angora wool, and asked people to avoid horse-drawn carriages. Deshmukh promotes vegan eating and even cofounded a vegan meat company with his wife, Genelia. The company, Imagine Meats, has previously won PETA India’s Best Vegan Meat award for its tasty “chicken” nuggets.

For meat, eggs, and dairy, animals are raised in vast warehouses in severe confinement. As PETA India reveals in its video exposé “Glass Walls”, chickens killed for food are often shackled upside down before their throats are slit. Cows and buffaloes are crammed into vehicles in such large numbers that their bones often break before they’re dragged off to a 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.

In addition to being the compassionate choice, eating more plants helps fight the climate catastrophe by reducing greenhouse gas emissions; slashes the risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity; and can even prevent future pandemics. SARS, swine flu, bird flu, and likely COVID-19 are all linked to confining and killing animals for food.

Past winners of the title (known as the Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity Award until 2020) include Zeenat Aman, Jackie Shroff, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Rajkummar Rao, Alia Bhatt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Shraddha Kapoor, Sonu Sood, Manushi Chhillar, Sunil Chhetri, Anushka Sharma, Kartik Aaryan, Vidyut Jammwal, Shahid Kapoor, Rekha, and Amitabh Bachchan.

PETA India is delighted to honour these legendary stars for showing the world that kindness to animals is the most beautiful quality of all. Kick-start your journey of choosing healthy meat-free meals by ordering our free vegan starter kit.