Janhvi Kapoor revealed that she was depressed after her debut film Dhadak, and believed people hated her despite the film’s commercial success.

When Janhvi Kapoor made her debut in Bollywood with Dhadak (2018), many people thought it was a big success. The film did well at the box office, and audiences praised her performance. But for Janhvi, the experience felt very different.
Recently on Raj Shamani’s podcast, the Roohi actress shared that she felt depressed after the film, and believed that it was all over for her despite the movie performing well at the box office.
“You know, every time anyone talks to me about my first film, Dhadak, they are like, ‘she was so good in it’ or that ‘we loved Dhadak’ and ‘you earned a lot of money’… But my memory of Dhadak was very different. I was depressed after Dhadak. I thought ho gaya and that packup hogaya (I am done). People hate me,” Janhvi recalled.
Janhvi explained that her emotional state was deeply influenced by losing her mother, Sridevi, just months before the release. She mentioned that she had always received validation from her mother, and when her mother passed away, she tried to shift that need for validation to the audience.
The actress admitted that she expected complete acceptance from everyone, something she later realized does not exist.
Instead of celebrating the film’s success, Janhvi found herself stuck in self-doubt.
The Devara actress explained that she did not acknowledge the fact that Dhadak was one of the most commercially successful films with newcomers until Saiyaara. It did not even occur to her that the film was a hit.
In her mind, she only thought that she had performed badly and that people hated her. Because she concentrated only on the negative, she said that became her reality.
Helmed by Shashank Khaitaan, Dhadak tells the story of two young lovers from different social backgrounds who fight against societal pressures to be together. The film is the official Hindi remake of the acclaimed Marathi movie Sairat.