Bollywood Stars And Their Stories To Cope With Mental Conditions

Success is no guarantee for satisfaction, as I condemn, Bollywood says it all!

The limelight, the glitter, little bling, bold and killer attitudes, looks to die for and a glimpse which takes your breath away, such is the impression of the personalities in the spotlight.

Life in Bollywood

Bollywood is no less than a dreamland. The actors and actresses as in the role of the shining stars set dreams on fire and rule hearts of the millions of people. They are watched, they are copied, mimicked, idealized, judged, hated and worshipped too.

Pertaining specifically in the culture which is constantly judged, biased, glorified and goes on the face value. It is quite a devastating fact that success is largely dependent on its functionality, glamour quotient, and novelty, glory is more fleeting than ever, and those who win the attention of the public worry incessantly about losing it.

Sometimes it comes as a price celebrities pay to create and maintain their Public Image because they just don’t get paid for being a movie star but the most significant part of their income depends upon their endurance to sustainability and it comes from the BRAND they become.

No matter how irresistibly juicy the Bollywood appears for one, a career in Bollywood doesn’t guarantee a sane life in the long run. Perhaps stress and depression are tied to genetic and environmental causes as well, but the nature of the work can worsen the distress.

What could be the factors of stress in Bollywood stars?

• The eternal pressure to look good all the time
• Consistently thrive to excel at work
• A lot of travel
• Strict deadlines
• Paparazzi
• Social Appearances
• Long working hours
• Lack of privacy and security
• Disturbed sleep cycles

The life of a Bollywood star is always at the display and with the advent of the complete Social Media Culture, a less durable one, everything becomes a piece of news or a meme joke. Even relationships, marriages and kids are not spared from the loose statements and snide remarks.

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Albeit, they have put themselves in this position by making their life public but I insist they do exist as a human being with us, they have lives, they have kids and maybe other struggling situations at their personal end.

It is the other side of fame, spotlight and the cost of sustaining in the dreamland. Some are external factors, rabid fans, gold diggers, paparazzi, critics, peer-pressure and some crop within as self-doubt, addiction or in seeking solace.

The career of the stars is decided with a single movie at the box office, the critics, the public opinion and constant reviews and rating by each and every one.

Also Read: Society Stigmas and Mental Health

Some examples from Bollywood

Rajesh Khanna

The moniker of SUPERSTAR was first used in Bollywood to define the crazy fan following Rajesh Khanna had, from girls marrying his photos, to leaving lipstick marks on his car, the actor saw fan frenzy like none other but someday the sun has to set and a new star has to rise and so was the case with him as Amitabh Bachchan started making his mark as the Angry Young Man in Bollywood and after a series of flops in an illustrative career of Rajesh Khanna, his downfall began. But he was not prepared for this and the sudden shift of focus from him to another star made him a recluse. He started drinking heavily and avoided people all the time, even after years after his frenzy had died down, he still could not accept the fact that his time was over. After years of loneliness and a drinking habit he couldn’t overcome, he passed away. He once created a sensation and had a huge number of crazy fans who worshipped him, later he could not handle the success and shut himself down.

Parveen Babi

Magnificently beautiful and flawless Parveen Babi was believed to suffer from a mental break down in her life wherein she shut herself from the public appearances and eventually died alone. It is believed that she was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Parveen Babi’s case was extremely disheartening as she was one amongst the top actresses who had worked with every major movie star of the era. Her last movie was Iraada in the year 1990 and after that she completely withdrew from the public glare. Her mental condition got worse but sadly there was no one to take care of her. It is reported that she was so delusional that she believed that people were trying to kill her and she locked herself up without even going outside her house. She had a string of affairs with Mahesh Bhatt, Danny and Kabir Bedi. But it is believed that she was very serious about Mahesh Bhatt but unfortunately none of them could save her from mental illness and self-destruction. She died in her flat alone with no one by her side. Her body was found in a bloated and decomposed state after 4 days and the cause of death was starvation and multiple organ failure. No one could believe that Parveen Babi who could create a flutter in the hearts of men with her smile died a lonely death.

Deepika Padukone

Actor Deepika Padukone broke the silence and stigma around depression by sharing her battle against this condition. A rough patch hit her life and she found it difficult to open up… but yet gained the courage to share her story as an attempt to break the stigma around mental health right after two of her films became blockbusters, Chennai Express, and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

Read her exclusive Interview here as Full Transcript

There are numerous examples in Bollywood that break the stereotype and burst the bubble of a perfect life of a movie star. A life in Bollywood is not all the glitz and the glamour, there are many other factors that we as a common man need not go through and they as celebrities must stick to.

Its not easy being under the watchful eye of the public who will not waste a single chance to shred your image into pieces. We can argue that they choose this life. Yes indeed they do but somewhere even they are not able to anticipate the side effects of stardom as it is never discussed or showed to the public at large.

Conclusion: India is no wonder one of the most depressed countries in the world and over 1 lakh people on an average kill themselves in India every year and these are the only reported figures of depression and suicide.

Despite these statistics there continues to be absolutely an unneeded sense of embarrassment when it comes to talking about depression or mental health. It’s time to talk!