Actress and frontline warrior Shikha Malhotra has been making the headlines for the past few months because of her recovery journey after she suffered a brain stroke and right-side paralysis during COVID-19. It was 2020, during the peak of the pandemic, when she returned to work as a nurse and joined the Covid ICU in a BMC hospital in Mumbai. Working during that time, came with harsher consequences as she too suffered from the virus.
Following her diagnoses, she suffered a major brain stroke that left her right side paralysed. Now months after talking about her transformation and her return to the entertainment industry, she recently opened up about how she recovered with the help of her mother, Shobha Devi, who is a retired nurse. Talking about the same during an interview with Pinkvilla, the actress shared that since she was paralysed for a long time, she wasn’t able to walk properly. ALSO READ: Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan Co-Star Shikha Malhotra On Suffering Brain Stroke-Paralysis; Reveals She Gained A Lot Of Weight Due To Steroids
With the help of her mother, she started her recovery journey. Shikha added, “It was a whole lot of struggle to become normal after paralysis. I started doing yoga, Kathak, and classical singing. It used to hurt a lot but I thought not to give up.” The Fan actress went on to talk about how, post her recovery she auditioned for Imtiaz Ali’s movie Chamkila, starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra. ALSO READ: Fan Actor And Frontline Warrior Shikha Malhotra Talks About Her Recovery After Suffering A Major Stroke; Says ‘I'm Not Sure When I Will Be Able To Walk Again’
However, she asked them to delete her audition tape as she “looked so old.” She explained how they tried to tell her that she did a good job, but she told them, “I am very young. I may not look like it.” She expressed her desire to quit acting altogether. This was when her mother stepped in again and motivated her to continue working on herself and recover rather than quitting acting.
On the work front, Shikha Malhotra has worked in films like Shah Rukh Khan starrer Fan, and Running Shaadi. She is also part of the Rajasthani film Kaanchli: Life In a Slough which stars actor Sanjay Mishra too. The movie is directed by filmmaker Dedipya Joshii. She also holds a nursing degree and was working on the frontline after the pandemic hit.
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