Diwali 2024: Rajesh Kumar to Dipshikkha Nagppal, actors share personal battles they’ve overcome

As Diwali marks the victory of light over darkness actors Rushad Rana Amandeep Sidhu Rajesh Kumar Hunar Hali Dipshikkha Nagppal and Manjari Fadnnis reveal the lsquoinner demonsrsquo theyrsquove worked to conquer this year From selfdoubt and emotional healing to lifestyle changes and personal growth they share how they embraced resilience and strength to ignite a new spark within them Herersquos how theyrsquove transformed in line with the festivalrsquos spirit of renewal and lightDipshikkha NagppalI have always been too harsh on myself I often put myself second but this time itrsquos about me I have decided to do what I want I wanted to focus on my emotional wellbeing happiness and choices For that I had to do a lot of inner work The light I needed came from working on positivity spirituality awareness choices and wisdom That was the light I used to kill my inner demonsRushad RanaThe demon that I have resolved to kill this year is one I havenrsquot addressed yet because I only became aware of it recently I have a tendency to spend money frivolously I am usually careful about how I spend it but lately Irsquove realised that my expenditures have been quite careless Thatrsquos what I need to tackle and itrsquos one challenge I would like to conquer this yearHunar HaliThe fear of falling down while learning to walk on my own emotionally and mentally was quite challenging after losing my dad in my early 20s I conquered my fear by learning to have faith and courage prioritising myself and by not letting my emotions be a byproduct of how others feel about me Personal demons such as vulnerability grief sadness and other complicated feelings are all contentious emotions that occupy my thoughts all the time Spirituality and meditation have helped me set my intent on being positive and never looking backManjari FadnnisI conquered the feeling of envy this year Itrsquos one of the rarest emotions I feel But Irsquom only human so it did happen I hated every moment of the feeling it brought so I just prayed and meditated I read something beautiful which immediately resonated with me Itrsquos sometimes okay and human to feel lowvibe emotions like envy and jealousy but whatrsquos more important is to catch it and accept the feelings Turn the envy into inspiration instead And that is exactly what I did I started feeling genuinely happy for the opposite person I felt like that demon melted away right out of my system It was magical and beautifulRajesh KumarThe demon in my life was less of an inner struggle and more of an outer onemdashit was my body weight I have managed to conquer different characters and take on varied work But the real turning point came on the last day of the shoot for Freedom at Midnight that was when I decided to free myself from the overweight look Conquering it is still a challenge because at some point you become complacent and comfortable with it Yet itrsquos definitely something that needs to go Now the hard work is in maintaining a proper diet For the last 21 days Irsquove been following the one meal a day OMAD diet a GenZ slang Irsquom still trying to keep up with Irsquove conquered about 90 per cent of the challenge Hopefully by January Irsquoll have a new look The process is a bit slow for me and as I age itrsquos better to approach it scientifically than to jump in So thatrsquos the demon Irsquom trying to killmdashshedding not just the physical weight but the mental weight too I wouldnrsquot mind being called a killer who slayed 25 kgs laughsrdquoAmandeep SidhuThis year has been difficult for me although I have learnt a lot Letting go of something and moving on in life is something I have finally mastered There is a saying in Portuguese lsquotudo passarsquo which means everything passes and nothing is permanent This one line has stuck with me My dog passed away this year he was eight years old Moving on was and is very difficult but I have learnt from it and I am healing now