'A couple of hours before I was to board the flight, I felt completely handicapped and paralysed.'
'I wasn't able to go to the restroom on my own.'
'I wasn't in any condition to speak or walk or even eat.'
Janhvi Kapoor recently had a health scare and had to be hospitalised.
"I think I was exhausted and my immunity was very low," Janhvi explains to Subhash K Jha.
"Since the promotions of Mr & Mrs Mahi started, I haven't really had a break. I have been traveling. I shot three songs and am rehearsing for my fourth. All this, within the span of a month.
"Then I went to Chennai for half a day for an event and I think I ate something funky at the airport. Initially, we thought it was a stomach bug but it really wasn't because my blood parameters were all over the place.
"After my stomach settled, it was just bodyache, weakness and shivering."
So what exactly went wrong?
"Apparently, my liver profile was way off, and gave doctors reason to panic," she says.
"For three-four days, I was in hospital and they were trying to figure out what was wrong with me and why my parameters were so off. It was quite scary because when you're on a hamster wheel and covering a lot of ground, you feel invincible and triumphant. The only thing I was worrying about is, 'I hope I'm going to dance well, I hope I'm looking fit enough for this song.'
"Then suddenly, a couple of hours before I was to board the flight, I felt completely handicapped and paralysed. I wasn't able to go to the restroom on my own. I wasn't in any condition to speak or walk or even eat. So I really think it was a recalibration that I needed. My body needed that rest that it got in hospital."
Janhvi, who will be seen in the thriller Ulajh next, wants to warn her colleagues who push themselves beyond limits.
"It taught me that, you know, all of these things are great but you need to respect your body and all of those things that you derive your vanity from. They're all fleeting.
"You need to listen to your body. Now, I'm back. July 23 was my first day of work. I am still quite weak but yeah, I'll get there."
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff.com
