Actor Janhvi Kapoor made her Bollywood debut in 2018 opposite Ishaan Khatter with Dhadak. Now, she has revealed struggling with depression despite her first film’s commercial success.

“Every time anyone talks to me about my first film, they are like, ‘She was so good in it’. But my memory of Dhadak was very different. I was depressed after Dhadak,” the 29-year-old said on Raj Shamani’s podcast, adding, “I thought ho gaya, pack-up ho gaya. People hate me.”

Janhvi made her debut just months after the sudden and tragic death of her mother, veteran actor Sridevi in February 2018.

“I got all of my validation in my life from my mum. She went away. So I was like, ‘I’m going to shift that to the audience’. I was expecting some across-the-board acceptance, which I didn’t know does not exist,” she shared.

The actor admitted that she focused only on criticism, overlooking the film’s strong performance at the box office: “I didn’t even acknowledge that it was a very big success. I think it was the most commercially successful film with newcomers until Saiyaara. It didn’t click that it was a hit. I just knew that I sucked and people hated me… Because I only looked at the negative, and that became my reality.”

Saiyaara (2025), starring Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, broke Dhadak’s record for highest opening day ticket sales for a debutant-led Hindi film.