With the ongoing pandemic which has aggravated personal and professional problems for many, one’s mental health has finally come to the forefront. When a guy tweeted to actor Divya Dutta, saying he was feeling depressed, she replied to him and that changed his mood instantly. “That’s all it took to uplift his spirits. Sometimes, people just want to be heard and it can change a life,” says the actor, who hopes that if people communicate once a week or twice a month, it will make a difference.

In light of actor Asif Basra’s death by suicide and other such cases, there were many discussions on mental health and handling stress in the entertainment field. She says, “It was shocking to hear about the recent suicide cases as none of us knew their internal battles and conflicts. All we saw was their happy faces. To then say, pata hi nahin chala, is a frivolous outlook.”

People are always interested to know about the personal lives of celebrities, feels Dutta, and adds, “It doesn’t help that this is an unpredictable career. No matter how talented, you don’t know when you will get a break. People are scared to let others know that they are suffering, and that they need help.”

While we are all busy “trying to survive”, Dutta shares that it is not anyone’s fault. She reveals that she calls people just to talk to them. But when they ask, why did she call, they are taken aback to hear, “aise hi”. She says, “Hamari industry mein jo successful hai usse sab phone karte hain, call someone who you don’t need professionally or someone who is going through a career slump.”