Last
year, during India Today Conclave 2014,she inspired her fans with a discussion
on her success. No one knew that she had just sat alone and had cried for no
apparent reason.
Few days
back, when the 29 year old superstar’s dimpled cheeks were wet with painful
tears, on National Television, it was more touching and frighteningly more real
than Julia Roberts saying to Hugh Grant in Nottin’
Hill,”I’m just a girl, standing in
front of a boy, asking him to love her.”
Deepika
confessed, “The scariest thing for me was trying to find out
where this was coming from, it was this heaviness… this burden I was carrying.
Every minute was exhausting.”
The young
star was just a girl asking to be understood by a nation who easily judges and sweeps
everything ‘shameful’ under the carpet. She was asking, not for herself, but
for the alleged 36 percent of Indian population who suffers from depression.
She was there to face the huge bias against mental illness and tear down the
tag of the unspeakable and simply encourage people to seek help like they would
for any physical ailment. Her support came from her mother, Ujjala
Padukone, and her doctors, Dr Shyam Bhatt and Dr Anna Chandy, who accompanied
her to talk about depression.
Calling
it a brave move would be an understatement. A one hour interview with Barkha
Dutt known to prod into uncomfortable emotions during Mumbai’s 26.11 days, by
itself may have been a coup for a news channel riding on TRPs based on a huge
film star’s tears. But, Deepika and her mother did not lose sight of their
larger goal of reaching out to those in distress.
When
Deepika said she had “been to hell and
back”, she was not being dramatic. She was courageous enough to allow
herself to be vulnerable in front of the new cameras, her fans, a cruel
industry waiting to pounce on any sign of weakness and the more intimidating and
not so tactful host.
Ms Dutt
wasted no time in getting Deepika to talk about her star value and image
getting affected by her decision to talk about her bout of depression. But
Deepika, through her teary eyes and charming smile, stayed undeterred and kept
her slim shoulders square and strong.
She
quietly brought the focus back to the subject of mental illness, the need to discuss
it, the need to face it, the need to reach out, the need to build a support
system and the help available at the doctor’s doorstep.
Some of
the most valuable things she said were:
“This interview is not about me, it’s about people
going through depression, it’s about families trying to deal with this ailment.”
“If someone is breaking down repeatedly, don’t say
they’re doing it for attention. There’s a huge difference between being
sad and being depressed.”
“Depression is a lonely, isolated condition where
no one can talk about in the family – if this stigma will remain, we will soon
have an epidemic”.
To help remove this stigma, misplaced
prejudice and shame attached to mental illness, Deepika has launched Live,
Laugh, Love Foundation to create awareness and
save lives.
Through the best and the
most honest interview - a first of its kind in Indian media, Deepika has turned
around her pain to bring back smiles as cheery as her dimples. And that is a
matter of great pride for all of us.
A true star is born.
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