Deepika Padukone tells Meghan Markle that people thought she was lying about being depressed: ‘They thought I was doing this to promote a movie’

Actor Deepika Padukone joined Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on her Archetypes podcast to discuss mental health and activism. Deepika has become the face of mental health advocacy in Bollywood, after revealing in 2015 that she has suffered depression and has sought treatment for it.
On the podcast, the actor recalled the skepticism with which her comments were received some people. Deepika said that this was expected, but that largely speaking, people welcomed her decision to speak her truth.

She said, “It feels like this huge burden was lifted off their shoulders. That finally, someone acknowledged the fact that okay, there is something that is such a thing as mental illness but with everything good that you do they’ll always be sort of that.”
She continued, “And so, there were a bunch of people who felt that either I was doing this to promote a movie or they thought that I was being paid a pharmaceutical company. And there were articles. They thought I was being paid a pharmaceutical company and you know that I’m now going to start advertising for some sort of medication.”

Deepika said that as difficult as the period was, she is glad that she experienced it, because she has come out a stronger person. She said that now, after having been through this ‘life and death’ situation, she believes that has a purpose that goes beyond her work and the money that comes with it.
Now, Deepika said, she values the little things in life, like hugging her ser, or the ‘late night conversations’ that she has with her husband, Ranveer Singh. Deepika is the founder of the mental health awareness organisation Live, Love, Laugh. She was last seen in the film Gehraiyaan. She also appeared for a brief cameo in Brahmastra, and will next be seen in Pathaan.