In November 2016, Alia Bhatt's sister Shaheen Bhatt had taken to her Instagram page and reveal that she has been in depression since the time she was 13. Shaheen even released her book titled 'Never Been (Un)Happier' where she gave out extensive details about her condition and living with depression from her teen years. During a recent conversation with Rajeev Masand, Shaheen opened up about her suicidal thoughts, 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."
Talking about how that incident makes her uncomfortable even now, Shaheen stated, "It’s making me unconformable right now as you are talking about it. You know, women, in general, suffer a lot….Shame I think is the core of depression and it could be any form of shame, and with women, I think body image also tends to be one of the causes for shame. Shame is central and I wish I could make people understand that shame is central to any kind of negative feelings, depression and sadness. It stops you from being vulnerable and you constantly fear that if you will show yourself as you are, you will be rejected by society. And my self-worth was definitely affected because I was at an age where the seeds of that were sown in me."
Alia has always been very supportive of Shaheen throughout!
