When Tunisha Sharma opened up about battle with depression and anxiety: 'I was constantly receiving hate and abuses'

Television and film actor Tunisha Sharma’s shock death at the age of 20 took her fans and the industry by surprise. The Maharashtra Police have said that the actress died by suicide and are currently questioning her co-star and rumoured boyfriend Sheezan Khan on charges of abetment. Tunisha’s family has said that the young star was battling mental health issues and had an anxiety attack recently. But this isn’t the first time Tunisha dealt with anxiety and depression. She had opened up about her battle with the two last year in an interview.

As per the police, Tunisha hanged herself in a makeup room on the sets of her ongoing show on Saturday afternoon. She was rushed to a hospital in Vasai, where she was declared brought dead. In a subsequent interview, Tunisha’s uncle Prem Sharma revealed that the actress was recently battling stress and anxiety attack.

Last January, in an interview with Bombay Times, Tunisha had opened up about her previous battles with mental health issues. “I was suffering from anxiety issues and feeling low even before Internet Wala Love started. I have been working since a young age and lost my father at an early age. Then I lost my cousin sister and my grandmother passed away too. I was emotionally broken to take care of myself. There was a constant fear of not being able to work. My schedules turned erratic and I had to consult a doctor. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. While I started medication, I had turned into a zombie. I hated going to work or shooting on the sets of my TV show. When the negativity of social media began to affect me, I detached from it,” she had said.

In 2019, Tunisha replaced Eisha Singh on the popular TV show Ishq Subhan Allah. Following this, she received lots of trolling and abuse from Eisha’s fans on social media. Talking about how that worsened her anxiety, the actress had recalled, “I was filled with apprehension when I replaced a lead actress on Ishq Subhan Allah. But I took up the show to get back to my work routine. Ishq Subhan Allah for me was a new show, but for the audience I was replacing its lead actor. I was constantly receiving hate and abuses from people on social media. The comparisons took a toll on me when they started questioning my work.”

At the time of her death, Tunisha was starring in Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul in a lead role. Over the course of her brief career, the 20-year-old had also worked in films like Fitoor and Dabangg 3. Preliminary police investigations have found that Tunisha was battling stress and anxiety after her breakup with co-star Sheezan Khan just two weeks prior to her death.