The biggest form of abuse is emotional abuse: Meghana Raj

Actress Meghana Raj is known for her resilience, having braved the odds that life has thrown at her and bouncing back stronger than ever. Gearing up for the release of her much-awaited comeback film, Tatsama Tadbhava, Meghana shares her rough emotional journey, especially after the death of her husband, actor Chiranjeevi Sarja. “At one point, people were expecting me to behave a certain way and that was so toxic. I feel the biggest form of abuse is emotional abuse. I love to express my emotions and be the way I want to be. But I was suppressing so many feelings until I realised I shouldn’t. Now, I know that the more you say okay to it, the more toxic it gets, until it breaks you from inside,” recollects Meghana. “Many women, including me, have been scared of being ourselves thinking that people are going to judge. We are conditioned to think that’s how women should behave. If you show your true feelings, you are categorised as something else. Compared to men, we have to control a lot,” shares Meghana, adding that her new film, directed by Vishal Atreya, actually addresses this topic.

‘THE FILM DRAINED ME EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY’ For Meghana, Tatsama Tadbhava is one of the most challenging projects that she has done. She says, “I haven’t done something so complicated in my career. There are portions in the film that exhausted me so much. It drained me emotionally and physically. As an actor, I have never felt that before. This film came to me at one of the lowest points in my life. After I heard the script, I felt it was meant to happen.”