📣 For more lifestyle news, click here to join our WhatsApp Channel and also follow us on Instagram
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Meeting her five-time co-actor Shah Rukh Khan for the first time was no less than a turning point in Deepika Padukone’s life. In a 2020 interview, the Pathaan actor opened up about receiving a call from Farah Khan in 2005-06 for Om Shanti Om, admitting that she thought someone was playing a prank on her. “I am meeting Farah Khan. The first time she called me, I was like, ‘This can’t be true’. Maybe someone is playing a prank on me. So, I don’t think I realised the intensity or the gravity of it then,” she said.
She recalled how she prepared for meeting the greatest superstar, Shah Rukh Khan. “I remember the first time that I actually had to go and meet the greatest superstar, Shah Rukh Khan. I had seen Shah Rukh in all these Yash Chopra movies. I was like, I have to go with my hair open, straight, and I have to wear a white salwar kameez. And I went and bought a white salwar kameez because I thought that’s how I should look,” she told National Geographic.
She added that the meeting is a memory she will never forget. “And I’ll never forget. He had white sofas, and everything in his house was white. I am sitting at the edge of the sofa, my back straight, in this white chikankari suit. He walked out, and I remember just being so comfortable with him,” said Padukone, who started her career as a model.
A psychologist explains how such meetings can make one experience a rush of emotions from anxiety, doubt, to happiness and relief.
Meeting someone new for the first time, especially those you admire or who are important to you, can bring a rush of emotions.
“You may feel numerous emotions all at once. You may feel excited to meet them finally, but at the same time, you get nervous or unsure about whether this meet-up will turn into something, or what you’re going to say. Going through this emotional roller coaster is normal,” said Dr Santosh Bangar, senior consultant psychiatrist, Gleneagles Hospitals Parel Mumbai.
You may feel stressed or anxious with the fear of being judged or not making a good impression in front of them. Doubts like ‘Will I say the right thing?’ or ‘What if they don’t like me?’ often arise, even when the person is kind or friendly.
“This is why it becomes crucial to try to stay calm even during such situations. What helps in such a situation is to focus more on staying in the present moment and reminding yourself that it’s okay to feel this way,” said Dr Bangar.
With time, such meetings do become easier as one learns to balance excitement with calmness.
