Happy birthday, Mahima Chaudhry: A look at actor’s career, troubled marriage & battle with cancer

Mahima Chaudhry is celebrating her 49th birthday today. Born in 1973, Mahima’s real name is Ritu Chaudhry. Before venturing into films, she did a few modelling assignments and featured in many television commercials. She made her debut with Subhash Ghai’s ‘Pardes’, alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Apurva Agnihotri, and late actor Amrish Puri. Some of her other notable works include, ‘Daag’, ‘Dhadkan’, ‘Kurukshetra’, ‘Dil Hai Tumhaara’, ‘Dil Kya Kare’ and ‘Lajja’ among others.

Mahima is now all set to make her comeback to the big screen. She currently has two films in the pipeline – ‘The Signature’ and ‘Emergency’.

Let’s know more about Mahima Chaudhry.

Accident that almost ended her career

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Mahima revealed that sometime around 1999, when she was working with Ajay Devgn and Kajol in their film ‘Dil Kya Kare’, she met with a horrible accident in Bengaluru.

A truck rammed into her car and her face was badly injured. Recalling the incident, she said, ‘I thought I was dying, and at that point, no one even helped me get to the hospital. It is only after reaching the hospital, much later, when my mother came, Ajay came and they went to discuss. I got up and saw my face in the mirror and saw the horror. When they did the surgery on me, they took out 67 glass pieces.’

The road to recover after the surgery was long as she had to stay indoors at all times, avoiding sunlight.

Pulled out of acting in 2006

Mahima Chaudhry had pulled out from acting after her marriage in 2006. According to Mid-Day, the actor said that she prefers to do ‘nothing’ rather than do ‘medicore’ roles. Chaudhary reportedly felt that the industry lacked to provide good roles to senior female actors and thus she decided to stay away.

Troubled marriage & miscarriages

Mahima married architect businessman Bobby Mukherji in 2006 and the couple parted ways 7 years later. (PATCH) The actor is now single parenting her daughter Ariana.

Speaking with Bollywood Bubble, Mahima recalled her troubled marriage and the two miscarriages she suffered. She said that she refrained from sharing the details of her marital troubles with family and friends.

‘You obviously don’t tell your parents, you don’t tell your people because you feel ‘oh, this was one issue’ and then you stay back and then one more issue and then you stay back and then I also had a – I was also expecting another child and I had a miscarriage. And then I had another miscarriage, it was all because of you not being happy in that space. Every time I wanted to go out and do an event, go out and do a show, I used to come drop my child at my mother’s home and then I stayed back two days and I used to feel I’m so much more comfortable here,’ she said.

The actor also mentioned that her family, especially her mother, always supported her. She recalled how her mother told her, ‘I saw you struggling, I saw you up and down, and why are you beating yourself up? If it’s not, stay here for a while and see does it make you feel better?’

Her battle with cancer

In June, Anupam Kher made a huge revelation about the actor in his social media post. He disclosed that Mahima was undergoing treatment for breast cancer and she is now cancer-free. In the video shared by Anupam, Mahima was seen breaking down, and it was widely shared online.

In an interview with Times Of India, Mahima talked about her road to recovery and called it a ‘psychological battle’. She said that she was diagnosed with breast cancer during an annual check-up last year and was asked to undergo a few more tests, before starting treatment.

Her treatment lasted for four months in Mumbai.

Speaking with ETimes, the actor also revealed how her daughter, Aranya Chaudhry, supported her during the entire journey. She said her daughter avoided going to school for two months so that her mother is not exposed to Covid-19.

‘People didn't see the video fully, they have just jumped to conclude that I went to America for my treatment. But the fact is that I was very much in Mumbai. I am cancer-free. It got all over about 3 to 4 months back,’ she told the publication.

She added, ‘She categorically told me that she'll stay at home because she didn't want to risk the COVID virus from coming home as I was in my recovery stage. So, she didn't go to school when it reopened after the COVID phase. She took her classes online, they gave her that provision.’

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