Actress Janhvi Kapoor opened up about having a “weird sense of relief” after her mother's death, ace actor Sridevi. Talking about Sridevi’s death, she called herself “stupid” for seeking validation from the audience when her first film was released.
In discussions with Barkha Dutt for Mojo Story, Janhvi said, “When I lost mom, of course there was this huge tragedy, there was a hole in my heart. But there was this horrible feeling of “something bad has happened” to justify all the great things in my life and all the privileges and the things that I got easily which I heard my entire life. I thought ‘Ok now something bad has happened. I deserve this. I deserve this horrible thing that has happened to me. It was a weird sense of relief.”
Janhvi said she dove right into work to cope with the loss. “During Covid I was forced to spend a minute with myself, and thoughts, and I realized actually how damaged I was. Another aspect of it that I reflected on, that I think really messed me up was the validation and approval that I sought from my mother. I gave the audience that responsibility.”
She added, “Not everyone in the world is going to love you like your mother. So, when my first film came out I was like ‘I will get the audience’s love through mom and it will be her.’ That was stupid of me, because a, it was my first film, and b, with the baggage of privileges with me, not everyone is out to love you. And, I could have done a better job.”
Almost 6 months later, Janhvi's debut film, ‘Dhadak’ was released in theatres, also starred Ishaan Khatter.