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SPOTLIGHT EXCLUSIVE: Mahima Chaudhry on her horrific accident: I thought I was dying; comebacks, struggles
Today, the spotlight is on Pardes star Mahima Chaudhry, who in a candid chat with Pinkvilla, revealed how she bagged her first break, the horrific incident which left her emotionally broken, struggles, comeback, and more. Read.
When Mahima Chaudhry first entered Bollywood in 1997 with Pardes opposite Shah Rukh Khan, her simplicity and beauty soon became the talk of the town. The actress then went on to play a double role in her next Daag: The Fire where she played a powerful role. But, while working on her next Dil Kya Karein, Mahima, who is currently on a break from films since 2010, revealed that she had met with a horrific accident that left her broken, more emotionally than physically. Today, the Spotlight is on Mahima, who in a candid chat with Pinkvilla, revealed how she bagged her first break, the horrific incident which left her emotionally broken, struggles, comeback, and more. Over to her:
You were a sensation when you made your debut. Why don't we see you more often today? Is it a conscious decision?
Frankly, there isn't anything coming my way. That is much of it. I have been keeping myself busy with events, live events, promotions, and of course, you have a child to raise and it takes an entire village to raise one, and I am a single parent (laughs).
You made a stupendous debut and did some amazing roles too. Do you somewhere feel the industry did not do justice to your skills?
I think they gave me a lot, but yes, I did have a lockdown period where I had to stay away from work. I had my lockdown period just after my two movies, Pardes and Daag: The Fire where I had a double role, which was a huge thing at that time and it was a successful film. Then, I was working for Ajay Devgn and Kajol's home production film Dil Kya Kare with Prakash Jha. During that, in Bengaluru, while on my way to the studio, I had a massive accident where a truck hit my car, and the glass of my car went into my face mostly. I thought I was dying, and at that point, no one even helped me get to the hospital. It is only after reaching the hospital, much later, when my mother came, Ajay came and they went to discuss. I got up and saw my face in the mirror and saw the horror. When they did the surgery on me, they took out 67 glass pieces.
What was the aftermath of the accident?
I get teary-eyed when I talk about it. I had to be with stitched stapled and had to be indoors and not be exposed to sunlight. My room was completely blacked out. I didn't look at myself; there was no mirror. Lights which had UV rays light couldn't be there so that the marks don't stay. There were a lot of movies that I had lined up for myself during that time, and I had to let it go. I didn't want people to know because at that time, people were not that supportive. If at that time, I had discussed it and said that I had cut myself like this, they would have said... 'oh, iska toh chehra kharab ho gaya, let's sign someone else.'
Keeping the accident a secret to avoid judgments and societal pressure...
Today, everybody is a lot more evolved and get a lot of support. I remember nobody was allowed to be on sets, as I was just healing. There was a song Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi which Neeta Lulla was designing and she said Mahima you must get back, I used to be shaking. I had a shoot with Gautam Rajadhyaksha and my jaws used to shiver. I didn't want to do the song but she pushed me. So, we shot that and that's how I began again by doing long shots in my held up films. When I slowly got my confidence back, Akshay Kumar said why don't you be a part of Dhadkan and then slowly I started picking up cameos and guest appearances, and those became hit. Yes, it did look like where did she go? I was hiding. I braved it out and it is only because of my family.
You were an outsider, was the industry welcoming post the success of your first film? Did you also have to struggle?
That struggle I didn't have. My struggle began after my first film, post a success, post a jubilee of so many weeks.
If today, you have to make a comeback, what kind of roles would you like to do?
Something which is more suited to me, like when I saw Tumhari Sulu. I absolutely loved Vidya Balan in it. Not that I could have done it better, but still, I would have loved to play something like that.
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