Janhvi Kapoor on Why She Felt a 'Weird Guilt' After Sridevi Passed Away

Janhvi said she used work as a distraction to cope with Sridevi's death.

Janhvi Kapoor speaks about coping with the loss of her mother, Sridevi.

(Photo: Instagram)

Janhvi Kapoor recently opened up about coping with the loss of her mother, Sridevi, and seeking validation from the audience in a conversation with Barkha Dutt at We The Women event.

Speaking about how she used work as a distraction to cope with her mother's death Janhvi said, "I don't think I coped with it for a very long time. I don't think I went about it in the way I should have gone about it. When we had her my life was completely different and when we lost her, I was bang in the middle of shooting for my first film. It was almost as if the life I was leading before her death was an idealistic and fictional life… It was during COVID when I was forced to spend time with myself that I realised how damaged I was. I was almost like a zombie.. on a hamster wheel doing things I didn't even need to do, in a race that I didn't need to be in with myself and seeking the company of people that I didn't really even want in my life just to fill a void."

Janhvi added that she felt a "strange guilt" following Sridevi's passing. "When I lost Mom, of course, it was this huge tragedy and a hole in my heart but there was this horrible feeling that because of my privilege and being told my entire life that I have got things so easy .. there was this weird guilt that I deserve this horrible horrible thing that's happened to me. This feeling was such a weird thing to process as a young girl,” the actor said.

Janhvi further said that she later realised seeking validation from the audience after her mother’s death was displaced grief. "I think the validation and approval that I sought from my mother, I started seeking that from them.. Not everyone in the world is going to love you like they are your mother."