Arjun Kapoor's sister Anshula, who rose to fame with her stint on the Amazon Prime show The Traitors, opened up about her parents' divorce and how it took a toll on her during childhood.
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"Under confidence seeped into my being, perhaps at the age of five or six, once my parents separated. I, for the longest time, thought that my parents' relationship didn't work out because of me, that I was the root cause of it. For a six-year-old to carry that weight is a lot. But my mom was the one who helped me understand that relationships are between two people. They start and end because of things that happen between those two people. And that, as a child, you have no bearing on them," Anshula told The Quint.
Anshula also opened up how society became judgemental towards her after the divorce happened. "I don't remember a single moment in my life - even as a child - where I didn't have to be resilient. Navigating the separation of my parents, when nobody really understood what was going on, was a lot. Add to that all those aunties giving you side-eyes and judgy looks, people suddenly going silent when you enter a group, and others just not wanting to talk to you, it does something to you. It makes you resilient. It makes you a little thick-skinned. But it also makes you a lot more isolated," she added.
During her moments of crisis, Anshula's mother Mona Kapoor stood by her and helped her spread the wings. "I always say that she was the wind beneath my wings. She was my literal spinal cord. I had no self-esteem. None of that. So, had I not had her, I would have only had a devil sitting on my shoulder, my own brain, always pulling me down.
"If I didn't have her as the counter to that devil, giving me the positive reinforcement I needed for my own mental health and sanity, I don't think I would have ever been able to lead a normal life, one where I wasn't just an emotional wreck, breaking down constantly," she recalled.
Boney Kapoor and Mona Kapoor had two children - Arjun and Anshula. Mona Kapoor died after battling cancer in 2012. Boney and his second wife Sridevi had two daughters - Janhvi and Khushi. Sridevi died due to an accidental drowning in Dubai in 2018.