When Mahima Chaudhry made her debut in the 1997 film Pardes, she was the new star on the block and the actor had a bright future ahead of her. But in 1999, when she met with an accident during the shoot of Dil Kya Kare, Mahima went through a rather difficult time. In a recent interview, Mahima opened up about that time in her life when she actually started thinking of an alternate career as she believed that she wouldn’t be able to continue as an actor.
Talking about the accident which led to 67 glass pieces being taken out of her face, Mahima told Radio Nasha that if the same thing happened today, she would be hailed as a hero and the industry would be supportive but this wasn’t the culture in those days. “When my accident happened, I didn’t realise that I have these many cuts on my face. I found later when I went to the bathroom and saw the mirror. Before that, I was telling Prakash ji (Prakash Jha, director) that if nothing has happened, let’s shoot. Because doctors were done with the scans etc. He said, ‘No no, let’s wait, we’ll just go out and talk about dates.’ When I saw my face, I realised that my face is injured,” she said.
Mahima Chaudhry said that when her co-star and producer of the film Ajay Devgn and director Prakash Jha came back, she requested them to not tell anyone about her accident so she could save her career as she feared that if the news got out, she would be banished from the industry. “When Ajay and Prakash ji came back, my first thing was ‘please don’t tell anyone that I have gone through this. Let me at least try and see what I can salvage my career with.’ It is just immense that no one from the production never told anyone. 20 years later, I told the story and that’s when people got to know. It is commendable. I used to go on set and everyone could see it,” she recalled.
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Mahima shared that a film magazine printed her photo that they clicked secretly and called her “scarface” but apart from that, no one said anything. The actor recalled that she also signed a film with late director Satish Kaushik and actor Anil Kapoor but she walked out of that. When Anil visited her home, Mahima pretended that she had broken her foot so she didn’t have to open up about her face. “That was tough because I was very young when I went through that,” she recalled.
Mahima said that at this time, she didn’t think that she would come out of the accident. “Ajay used to say that after surgeries, it would all be fine but I didn’t believe it. I was thinking of other career options. Even today, my one eye is smaller than the other. Back then, it was very stressful. I never faced the camera straight. I would always angle my face a bit,” she shared.
Mahima Chaudhry’s accident happened in Bangalore when during an early morning shoot, a vehicle coming from the wrong side rammed into her car and the glass pieces got stuck in her face.
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