Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt’s elder sister Shaheen Bhatt has recently opened up about her battle with depression.
During a recent interview to Rajeev Masand, Shaheen talks about her being body shamed and how it affected her mental health.
In the interview, Rajeev took out an excerpt from her book and said, “In the book, you talk about this incident and it’s just heartbreaking where you talk that once you and Alia, your younger sister went to a photoshoot with your elder sister, Pooja Bhatt and at some point the photographer asked you to leave the picture because the two of them (Alia and Pooja) looked similar, they were fair, cute and you were dark having spent too much time in the sun and you were a little overweight. And you said that till date, looking at those pictures cripples you emotionally.”
Shaheen Bhatt reveals she was once ignored
Talking about how that incident makes her uncomfortable even now, Shaheen stated, “It is making me uncomfortable right now, the fact that you are talking about it, is making me uncomfortable. I think women in general suffer from a lot of body image and lot of things we are told by media, by ourselves, it is a problem in general. Self worth is definitely… shame is definitely a cause for depression, it can be for any reason.”
“With women, body image tends to be also be one of the causes for shame. Many other causes as well. Shame is central. I wish I make people understand that shame is central to any feeling of depression and any feeling of sadness and it stops you from being vulnerable. My self-worth was definitely affected as I was at an age where the seeds of that were being sown in me. I was just trying to figure out who I was and obviously when something like this happens to you at such an unsure and uncertain time in your life, it sort of reinforces that and sets in stone in a way.” she added.
Shaheen is said to have gone through depression since her teen years. She had also released a book titled ‘Never Been (Un)Happier’. Alia is said to have been a great support to Shaheen in all her hard times.
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Alia too spoke about her sister’s battle with depression after learning about it. Taking to Instagram, she apologized to Shaheen for never really understanding her ‘silent moments of depression’ despite living with her for 25 years.