Mahira Khan Reveals Battling Depression Over Raees Backlash

Mahira Khan revealed how the threat and backlash she received during the release of Raees brought out the anxiety and depression in her. She shared about her struggle with her mental health and about being diagnosed with maniac depression.

In a recent interview with the FWhy Podcast, the Pakistani actor said that she learned to face mental struggles after entering Bollywood alongside Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Raees and the incident in 2017 where pictures of her smoking with actor Ranbir Kapoor surfaced online.

Mahira Khan Opens About Battling Depression

She spoke about the time she was banned from working in Bollywood. Recalling the incident, she said, "I had finished Raees and everything was going fine, and then suddenly this attack (the Uri attack) happened. Politically, everything gets messed up. With India, it is always political. But the fact that it could get this messy I was not scared, but I was threatened."

Khan also shared about the constant scary tweets and phone calls that she used to get. Khan said that she knew that she couldn't go to India to promote the film but hoped that it would release in Pakistan because she knew people in her country would rush to watch the film as they loved Shah Rukh Khan.

Raees was released in 2017, and the scandalous smoking pictures of Mahira Khan with Ranbir Kapoor happened in the same year. Recalling the incident, the actor said it was "unexpected" that she received immense backlash.

The Pakistani actor opened up about how the backlash brought out the anxiety and depression hidden inside her, adding that it was a difficult time for her. "I felt attacked. The constant backlash—you are getting mean tweets and comments on their channels (Indian channels). That was a time when my faith broke and I developed severe anxiety, to the point that one day I had a panic attack and fainted"

She added that that was the first time she went for therapy, but that didn’t work out, and she tried several therapists. She called that year a rough one, explaining that she couldn’t sleep and recalling how her hands would shake.

Khan disclosed that she has been on antidepressants for the past 6–7 years. She tried to quit medications in the middle but recalled going into a "very dark space and a dark whole." She also said that this was the first time she was openly speaking about the fact that she has been on medications for so many years.

Khan said she has been "in and out of hospitals trying to get help. She went on to explain that everybody has "ups and downs," "bad times and good times," but stated that clinical depression was like any other mental or physical illness.

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