4 min readMumbaiMay 6, 2025 10:24 AM IST
Hrithik Roshan’s elder sister, Sunaina Roshan, has been quite vocal about the health crises she’s faced throughout her life. From battling tuberculosis and cancer to dealing with alcohol addiction, Sunaina has braved it all. In a new interview, she opened up on how she turned to alcohol and had to seek rehab to recover from the same. “I was just going through a very vulnerable stage, probably after fighting tuberculosis and cancer. I had a lot of illnesses, like a bad attack of Zoster Herpes. I was just tired of fighting. I said I can’t take this anymore, I need some help. I took to alcohol because I was very, very vulnerable,” said Sunaina.
In the interview with Pinkvilla, Sunaina recalled that she soon realised that alcohol is not the solution. “After a month or so, I didn’t like myself drinking from morning to night or in the evenings. That’s the only phase I disliked myself. Dad had bodyguards. He did everything for me not to drink. But obviously, if an alcoholic drinks once, they just get it,” added Sunaina.
Injuries became common to Sunaina, thanks to alcohol addiction. “I used to fall off beds and chairs. I used to get marks on my bodies. Not cuts, but my skin would turn red or blue. Once you start drinking and are at that vulnerable stage, your body wants more and more, each and every single day. And it’s a very vicious cycle. Because once the alcohol effect is down, you get anxiety and palpitation, you are dehydrated. So to cover up for all that, you drink more. I’d advice everyone to not depend on any substance because for those many months, you feel good, but the aftereffects are bad,” explained Sunaina.
She then went to her parents, filmmaker Rakesh Roshan and Pinkie Roshan, asking them to admit her into a rehab overseas. “In India, you pay people money, they’ll still get it (alcohol) for you on the sly. It’s an easy source, no matter where you’re in India. I told them I want to get cured because this is not me, succumbing to something like that,” said Sunaina.
She then went to a 28-day addictive treatment programme, in which she was confined to a room and was “grilled” by six-seven counsellors. “I didn’t sleep for 28 days. They just asked you questions one after the other, just taking it all out of your system. We had our breakfast by 6-6:30. No perfumes, no sugar, no chocolates, nothing that’s addictive,” added Sunaina.
In the same interview, Sunaina recalled how she hated going to school. However, that wasn’t because she got any differential treatment as Rakesh Roshan’s daughter. “At that time, dad wasn’t doing well at all, as an actor or even as a producer. Nobody treated us as star children. Never,” said Sunaina, but maintained that school felt like “jail” to her.
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“I hated studies. I nearly failed all my standards. But then of course, life taught me real life lessons, which are better than studying through books. And I proudly say that today, after fighting battling so many illnesses,” added Sunaina. She also revealed that Hrithik also faced a lot of bullying for his stuttering.
Hrithik Roshan's sister Sunaina Roshan opens up on rehab.