Gaurav Chopraa has resumed work after a nearly two-year self-imposed hiatus. The actor reveals that the pandemic wasn’t kind to him at all, as he lost his parents.

“The first wave was extremely tragic for me as I lost both my parents within [a span of] 10 days. I still haven’t recovered from that loss. My parents were emotionally, intellectually as well as psychologically a huge force in my life. When they suddenly went away like that and I couldn’t do anything about it, it was tormenting,” says Chopraa, adding that “those two years have been the worst years” of his life. The 43-year-old says, “I’m still dealing with the stress.”

He is focusing back on his career now and doing what he can do for it. The actor was most recently seen in Bachchhan Paandey and is now filming for Gadar 2. While he mentions that he is in the “most exciting phase” in terms of his profession, it is definitely not easy: “When you are not feeling happy or strong enough to put your best foot forward at work, you do not even look or feel good. And an actor needs to look and feel good. Society does not even allow men to carry their emotions to work. It is allowed for women, and people will understand and [even] sympathize. That’s the reality. That’s what men have done all their lives. But I’ve no qualms in admitting that it’s a fight or that it has led to me being at my lowest health-wise. But I’ve decided to not stop doing what I’ve got to do.”