Janhvi Kapoor opens up about mom Sridevi's death, says 'there was this weird guilt that I deserve this'

Bollywood actor Janhvi Kapoor recently opened up about coping with her mother and legendary actor Sridevi's death. Janhvi spoke about how she seeks validation from the audience after her mother's death, and also how she deals with hurtful comments about her privilege.

Speaking at We The Women, the flagship festival curated by journalist Barkha Dutt, Janhvi said that after Sridevi's death, she turned to work as a distraction. 

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"I don’t think I coped with it for a very long time. I don’t think I went about it in the way I should have gone about it… When we had her my life was completely different and when we lost her, I was bang in the middle of the shoot of my first film. It was almost as if the life I was leading before her death was an idealistic and fictional life… During COVID, when I was forced to spend time with myself, I realised how damaged I was. I was almost like a zombie… on a hamster wheel doing things I didn’t even need to do, in a race that I didn’t need to be in with myself and seeking the company of people that I didn’t really even want in my life just to fill a void," she said. 

Janhvi also spoke about the "strange guilt" she felt after Sridevi's death. The Mili actor said, "When I lost mom, of course, it was this huge tragedy and a hole in my heart but there was this horrible feeling that because of my privilege and being told my entire life that I have got things so easy… there was this weird guilt that I deserve this horrible, horrible thing that’s happened to me… This feeling was such a weird thing to process as a young girl."

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Speaking further spoke about seeking validation from the audience after Sridevi's death and understanding that "not everyone in the world is going to love you like they are your mother."

"I think the validation and approval that I sought from my mother, I started seeking that from them… Not everyone in the world is going to love you like they are your mother," Janhvi said.