At FICCI’s Young Leaders Summit, Arjun Kapoor gave a glimpse into his personal battles — with grief, body image and mental health — and how he is healing. Excerpts...

Talking about his early exposure to films, the actor shared, “My father (Boney Kapoor) was making films since I remember, and my uncle (Anil Kapoor) was one of the biggest stars in the country. I grew up around cinema. My love for films was very pure. I never wanted to be an actor. I wanted to make films. I still do. I want to produce and direct films.”

Arjun said, “Acting just happened. I went for an workshop with Varun Dhawan to see how it feels to live vicariously through another character. I started enjoying being other people except myself.”

The actor also opened up about how his parents’ separation affected him. “I was not an obese kid, but then my parents split up, and I obviously looked at food for solutions. A lot of us have gone through that. I think it doesn’t matter what age you are; it depends on your emotions and mental wellbeing. I understand how obesity affects people in various ways. You can wake up and have a thin day and a fat day. I still have that,” he said.

Arjun shared, “My mother understood what I was going through. My sister and I both suffered where obesity was concerned. Mentally, I was a strong kid. I understood what my parents had been through at that point. So, I took life as it came, but the journey to lose weight took me four years. I had a solid foundation in my mother, she allowed me to take those three-and-a-half years to drop 50 kgs, also, I had professional aspirations.”

He further added, “My mental health actually was not triggered by obesity. I have a lot of self-confidence. But where mental health was concerned, it was my sister who started talking about it. I didn’t realize that the obstacles I had faced — obesity, making my career the way I did, my parents’ separation, and of course, the attention and eyeballs — had affected me. You become a star overnight, and suddenly you are scrutinized — the way you look, the way you talk, the way you express, the way you behave off camera, on camera, everything,” he recalled.

Arjun shared that therapy has helped him find a balance. “The pandemic gave me a moment of realization, and I started therapy after that because I realized I’m the big brother who’s always been there — taking care of my friends, my family, but he needs help, too. I’m a big advocate for help because I have realized its value. It’s like you declutter your mind. A lot of people don’t have that outlet and suffocate. Once you let things out of your mind and express them, you realize how smart and sensible you are. The biggest problem is that vulnerable people are looked upon as weak. I think the strongest people in this world are those who are emotional and vulnerable.”