Sayani Gupta on mental health: As actors, we exploit our emotions through and for our work
Actor Sayani Gupta says a lot of self work in retaining your sanity in the long run, requires you to start the work early on and therefore, she feels schools should introduce meditation and the work of calming the mind as a regular practice.
Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has put the spotlight on the topic of mental health and many believe that actors are more prone to falling prey to mental illness. Sayani Gupta feels that it’s mostly because of the nature of the profession, and one must be extremely cautious now more than ever.
“When it comes to actors, we exploit our emotions through, and for the work we do. We’re in the business of emotions. It might seem easy from the outside but actors are constantly exploiting and playing with their emotions in order to play characters and hit different emotional notes. The better one can mould his/her emotions, the better he/she is as an actor,” she says.
And that’s why, says the Four More Shots Please! actor, it’s pertinent for actors to do active work to come back to a centre or equilibrium.
“It’s important to cleanse our soul and insides almost like oiling the machinery. We don’t give it enough importance because it comes easily. But, a lot of self work in retaining your sanity in the long run, requires you to start the work early on. This definitely means that we need to protect and preserve the well-being of our mind just like we look after our physical well-being,” the 34-year-old explains.
Gupta also thinks that even in film schools and acting classes, meditation and the work of calming the mind should be introduced as a regular practice.
“This incident has come as a huge jolt and a huge heartbreak and as a community we need to look out for one another and help and champion each other through our respective journeys,” she adds.
As actors, besides their onscreen work, one is also constantly exposed on social media and in the process become vulnerable to trolling. Gupta, one of the most outspoken celebrities, prefers to speak her mind.
“I’ve always been vocal, that’s my upbringing. I can’t help it. I’ve to force myself to stay quiet a lot of times, to not write a lot of stuff on social media to avoid trolls,” she ends.
Get more updates from Bollywood, Taylor Swift, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.
Get more updates from Bollywood, Taylor Swift, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.