Actor Anjali Anand, who made her Bollywood debut with Karan Johar’s directorial Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani alongside Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, recently opened up about one painful chapter of her childhood during an interview with Hauterrfly. She bravely shared how someone she trusted deeply ended up hurting her.
Opening up about childhood trauma, Anjali acknowledged that many people experience events that significantly shape their self-perception. She reflected on how these experiences can create a lasting impact, making it difficult to break free from emotional turmoil even in adulthood. However, she also emphasized her belief that there is always a way to heal and move forward.
‘It was someone who made me family’
When asked if the perpetrator was someone close to her family, Anjali revealed, “No. It was someone who made me family, and it was a dance teacher, actually. I have never said this on screen before. But today, I think in the morning, I thought if you ask me something, I will tell you. I have never said who it was or what happened. But the dance teacher had me in seclusion? You were alone when she tried something? He tried a lot, but alone. I didn’t know what he was trying to do. I was eight, just after my dad passed away.”
‘He told me he was my dad’
Anjali further revealed the heartbreaking details of her trauma, recalling how someone she trusted manipulated her at a vulnerable age. She shared that he convinced her he was a father figure, saying, “He told me that ‘I am your dad.’ And I believed him because I didn’t know.” She recounted how the abuse started subtly before escalating, adding, “He started very slowly. He started with a peck here and a peck on the lips, and then he said, ‘This is what dads do.’” Anjali, speaking about the emotional turmoil she endured, admitted, “I feel like this is the first time talking about it, and I think it’s high time. I see these documentaries where these girls don’t know where to go or what to do. How do I tell someone? What do I tell someone? What will they think of me? I don’t even know what a father-daughter relationship is. He told me this is what it is.”
‘He controlled everything about me’
Elaborating on how her abuser dictated every aspect of her life, Anjali revealed that he restricted her clothing choices for years. “He wouldn’t let me keep my hair open. He wouldn’t let me wear women’s clothes. He would make me wear his old t-shirts so that I didn’t look appealing to other men,” she explained.
However, a turning point came when she met someone who treated her differently. “When my sister got married and my dad’s best friend’s son came for her wedding, he had a crush on me and started talking to me. That’s when I realized—this feels normal. I feel something for this. What is this? That’s happening. It’s wrong. And I just felt stuck,” she said.
‘He kept a tab on everything I did’
Anjali also shared how her abuser constantly monitored her actions, ensuring she had no freedom. “He used to keep a tab. He knew what messages I was sending. He used to have them printed. He caught me once with this guy,” she said. He even controlled her education by arranging private tuitions at his place, preventing her from going elsewhere. “He used to call the teachers there. He used to be outside my school to pick me up. And everybody was like, ‘Why is he always there?’ Nobody even tried to see why,” she added.
‘My first boyfriend saved me’
Anjali credited her first relationship for helping her escape from the nightmare. She expressed gratitude toward her first boyfriend, acknowledging that he unknowingly played a crucial role in her survival. “I thanked this first boyfriend of mine. I dated him for two years. I thanked him, and I told him after we broke up many years later because I didn’t have the strength to tell anybody that I was going through that. And I told him much later. I took him for a walk and said, ‘Thank you for saving me. You actually saved me at that time,’” she shared.
