In the spirit of the festival of lights, actors share the personal battles they’ve overcome, illuminating their path to peace and resilience
Hunar Hali
As Diwali marks the victory of light over darkness, actors Rushad Rana, Amandeep Sidhu, Rajesh Kumar, Hunar Hali, Dipshikkha Nagppal, and Manjari Fadnnis reveal the ‘inner demons’ they’ve worked to conquer this year. From self-doubt and emotional healing to lifestyle changes and personal growth, they share how they embraced resilience and strength to ignite a new spark within them. Here’s how they’ve transformed, in line with the festival’s spirit of renewal and light.
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Dipshikkha Nagppal
I have always been too harsh on myself. I often put myself second, but this time, it’s about me. I have decided to do what I want. I wanted to focus on my emotional well-being, happiness, and choices. For that, I had to do a lot of inner work. The light I needed came from working on positivity, spirituality, awareness, choices, and wisdom. That was the light I used to kill my inner demons.
Rushad Rana
The demon that I have resolved to kill this year is one I haven’t addressed yet, because I only became aware of it recently. I have a tendency to spend money frivolously. I am usually careful about how I spend it, but lately, I’ve realised that my expenditures have been quite careless. That’s what I need to tackle, and it’s one challenge I would like to conquer this year.
Hunar Hali
The fear of falling down while learning to walk on my own, emotionally and mentally, was quite challenging after losing my dad in my early 20s. I conquered my fear by learning to have faith and courage, prioritising myself, and by not letting my emotions be a by-product of how others feel about me. Personal demons such as vulnerability, grief, sadness, and other complicated feelings are all contentious emotions that occupy my thoughts all the time. Spirituality and meditation have helped me set my intent on being positive and never looking back.
Manjari Fadnnis
I conquered the feeling of envy this year. It’s one of the rarest emotions I feel. But I’m only human, so it did happen. I hated every moment of the feeling it brought, so I just prayed and meditated. I read something beautiful which immediately resonated with me: It’s sometimes okay and human to feel low-vibe emotions like envy and jealousy, but what’s more important is to catch it and accept the feelings. Turn the envy into inspiration instead. And that is exactly what I did. I started feeling genuinely happy for the opposite person. I felt like that demon melted away right out of my system. It was magical and beautiful.
Rajesh Kumar
The demon [in my life] was less of an inner struggle and more of an outer one—it was my body weight. I have managed to conquer different characters and take on varied work. But the real turning point came on the last day of the shoot for Freedom at Midnight; that was when I decided to free myself from the overweight look. Conquering it is still a challenge because, at some point, you become complacent and comfortable with it. Yet, it’s definitely something that needs to go. Now, the hard work is in maintaining a proper diet. For the last 21 days, I’ve been following the one meal a day (OMAD) diet, a GenZ slang I’m still trying to keep up with. I’ve conquered about 90 per cent of the challenge. Hopefully, by January, I’ll have a new look. The process is a bit slow for me, and as I age, it’s better to approach it scientifically than to jump in. So, that’s the demon I’m trying to kill—shedding not just the physical weight but the mental weight, too. I wouldn’t mind being called a killer who slayed 25 kgs [laughs].”
Amandeep Sidhu
This year has been difficult for me, although I have learnt a lot. Letting go of something and moving on in life is something I have finally mastered. There is a saying in Portuguese, ‘tudo passa’, which means everything passes and nothing is permanent. This one line has stuck with me. My dog passed away this year; he was eight years old. Moving on was and is very difficult, but I have learnt from it, and I am healing now.
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