Celebs who overcame childhood ailments to attain success​

Bollywood has played a key role in talking about diseases and illnesses that are often stigmatized. Every now and then, a Bollywood celebrity comes forward and opens up on his/ her struggle with certain disorders which not only makes us aware of the condition it also gives them a ray of hope who silently struggle with it.

Celebrities play a significant role in raising awareness about serious ailments by sharing their personal experiences and using their platforms to educate the public. Their openness can reduce stigma, encourage early detection, and promote treatment for conditions like cancer, mental health issues, or chronic diseases. When celebrities discuss their health struggles, they humanize these conditions, making them more relatable and prompting individuals to seek help.

Here are a few Bollywood celebrities who have spoken about the health issues they have fought against in childhood.

Abhishek Bachchan has been open about his experience with dyslexia during his school years. Diagnosed at a young age, he faced challenges in reading and learning, which made his academic life difficult. However, with the support of his parents and the help of teachers, he worked through the challenges posed by dyslexia. Despite these early struggles, Abhishek went on to carve a successful career in Bollywood, proving that learning disabilities do not define one’s future.

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Actor Boman Irani struggled with dyslexia as a child. The actor who debuted at the age of 41, has an exceptional story. He used to lisp in school and was made fun of for the same. Boman used singing to correct his speech and make it better.

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, known for movies like Mr India, Masoom, Bandit Queen had revealed about being dyslexic. “Lessons of Life: I’m completely dyslexic. And finding more and more artists, poets, and musicians suffer from dyslexia too. Are you? With #AI I’ve developed a love for visual mathematics, but in school developed a hatred for Maths…of course! With #dyslexia, numbers made little sense,” he had tweeted last year.

Actor Hrithik Roshan suffered from speech disorder in his childhood and used to stammer. He had joined speech therapy classes to overcome his stammering issue. Not just this, he also had spine issues which made his school days extremely painful. “I have sometimes felt that life is very unfair. In school, I had such a bad stammer that I couldn’t speak. I never had any friends, or girlfriends. I was very shy, and would come back from school and just cry. School days were very painful…on top of that, doctors told me that I couldn’t become an actor. There were problems with my spine, doctors said ‘you cannot dance’,” he had revealed in an interview.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor suffers from nasal deviated septum. This is an olfactory disorder in which the bone that bridges the nostrils are deviated. Individuals who have this condition tend to eat and talk way too fast. ENT specialists had advised him to undergo septoplasty to fix the issue, but the actor chose not to opt for it.

Actor Alia Bhatt recently revealed about being diagnosed with ADHD in an interview. She underwent a psychological test which confirmed her condition. “I used to get zoned out from a young age,” she had revealed in the interview. She has also spoken about how her condition influenced her decision to go for a minimal look for her wedding. “I could not sit for long in the makeup chair,” she revealed.

Robin Uthappa had to face painful challenges due to the medication he consumed to treat epilepsy. His growth was stunted as a side effect of the medicine. “I suddenly looked bigger but not a lot of people knew I was going through epilepsy and was taking medication for it. For me, it was like a monkey on my back that I needed to get rid of after a point of time,” he had revealed once. Due to his health condition he is unable to take a break from the game physically for a long time.

Bharatnatyam dancer Sudha Chandran is known for her battle against a deadly accident she faced when she was just 17 years old. Chandran hurt her right leg in an accident which eventually had to be amputated due to being gangrenous. She relies on prosthetic foot and returned to dancing after a gap of two years.

Bharatnatyam dancer Sonal Mansingh met with a car accident in her early days but that did not stop her from pursuing dance. She underwent several physiotherapy sessions and gave breathtaking performances later.