Actors get addicted to the depression and pain: Shaan Shahid

He warned artists who tap into dark pasts to enhance their performances

It's been a week since actor-singer Mohsin Abbas Haider opened up about depression in a heart-wrenching post. "Depression is going to kill me soon. Thanks to everyone who caused it," he had posted.

Since then, many celebs have come out in his support and to talk about mental health in general. The latest to do so is actor Shaan Shahid.

The Arth actor took to Facebook on Friday to talk about "Walking the thin line." Drawing a narrative from his career, Shaan said, "For an actor or artist, depression is a tool to achieve a state or an emotion to capture the essence of an expression. For example, Van Gogh's pain can be seen on canvas."

PHOTO: FILE

He continued, "An actor who is living in a different character, or for his eyes to look sad, has to feed depression to his mind so that he/she can achieve the right expression. Unfortunately, they tend to cross the line and get addicted to the depression and the pain. To stay with another character in your body is like fighting addiction."

Shaan added that there is a way out of this black hole. "It’s sad to see today that we pick up careers without looking at the pros and cons and the effect it will cause. Without a plan or without protection, we jump into the most sophisticated part of the human body: the mind," explained the Khuda Kay Liye star. "We see the bright side of the entertainment world, not the dark side."



While we do agree to some of Shaan's ideas, we couldn't understand what the actor meant when he said some people "choose to stay in depression or pain."

But when an actor opts for a role, he or she tries their best to portray what's expected of them from said role. For instance, when Ranveer Singh chose to play the tyrannical Alauddin Khilji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat last year, the actor reportedly locked himself up in a room for 21 days to get the essence of his role. Naturally, that took a toll on his mental health.

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/SHAAN SHAHID

“I took 21 days and locked myself up in my Gurgaon house. I was completely isolated,” he told Hindustan Times in an interview earlier. “I kind of isolated myself, marinated into the character because I can’t relate to Alaudin Khilji. I can’t relate to that level of manipulativeness, greed and ambition. I had to tap into dark experiences but his world view is not something I can relate to."

According to Cosmopolitan India, not just Ranveer but Deepika also sought psychological help after wrapping up the film.

PHOTO:FILE

Mohsin's avatar as Dabeer in Meri Guriya (drama based on the real-life rape and murder of eight-year-old Zainab from Kasur), might have taken him to a dark place but it necessarily doesn't mean it could be the reason for his depression.

While actors go to extreme measures to give their best, they probably don't "choose" to stay in the after affects of it. But kudos to Shaan for warning his contemporaries about the process.

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