Raees director Rahul Dholakia opened up about his emotional challeneges while shooting for the Shah Rukh Khan film recently. He shared that his mother was in ICU, while he was shooting for the film.
What's Happening
During a conversation with The Times Of India, Rahul Dholakia also shared that filmmaking had taken a toll on his health.
"I've had diabetes after one film, blood pressure after another, and a heart attack after one more," he recalled.
Rahul Dholakia also revealed that the filmmaker has to deal with a lot of people's egos, tantrums and power games.
"My mom was in the ICU, I was suffering from chronic pain... but I couldn't take off. SRK was on set, and I had to shoot. I would stay with my mom at the hospital at night, then come to set and pretend everything was normal. It was a nightmare - but you can't bring your problems on set," Rahul told the publication.
The filmmaker recounted that talking about mental health is still a taboo in the industry.
He said, "Our industry is such a performance-driven industry that people are afraid to say they're not well. There's always a fear of being dropped. No one wants to look weak. That's a big problem - it's always do or die. Your life is yours. Don't let anyone take it away from you. If you feel low, don't feel shy to take help - you have to look after yourself."
About Raees
Rahul Dholakia's Raees (2017) featured Shah Rukh Khan, Pakistani actress Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles.
Raees is said to be based on the criminal Abdul Latif's life. However, the filmmakers have denied this claim.
In A Nutshell
Raees director Rahul Dholakia revealed about his emotionally challenging shooting experience and how the industry still doesn't prioritize the talks on mental health.