‘Used to limp every day’: Siddharth Shaw on physical toll of Chiraiya; psychiatrist weighs in
Siddharth Shaw shared how preparing for an intense and disturbing scene took a toll on him in ways he hadn’t anticipated.
Shaws plays a newlywed husband who rapes his wife repeatedly, in JioHotstar original Chiraiya (Image: Instagram/sidsshaw) What happens when a role doesn’t just stay on screen, but seeps into your everyday life? Actor Siddharth Shaw recently opened up about a deeply unsettling experience while shooting for Chiraiya, revealing how months of psychological stress translated into physical pain — so much so that he struggled to even walk properly.
Speaking on the DOAK Poland Podcast, Shaw shared how preparing for an intense and disturbing scene took a toll on him in ways he hadn’t anticipated.
“I had taken on so much anxiety because of the role I was playing. There were intimate scenes involved, so for nearly half a year, I have limped. The anxiety had taken hold of my lower back. I couldn’t walk properly — I used to limp every day. There would be physiotherapy sessions on set before shooting and after shooting in the evening.”
What made it harder, Shaw explained, was the nature of the scene itself. “For six months, I carried the tension of that intimate sequence…This was of another magnitude in itself. So itna tension le liya tha maine dimaag mein ki it was taxing for me as a human.”
His words highlight something many people experience but rarely articulate: when the mind is under prolonged stress, the body often follows.
When stress stops being “just in your head”
According to Dr Abhinit Kumar, Senior Consultant, Psychiatry, ShardaCare – Healthcity, Shaw’s experience may sound extreme, but it is far more common than we think.
“What this actor has described is much more widespread than most people are aware of. The mind and the body are not two distinct systems, and the long-term anxiety makes that quite obvious.”
When stress continues for months, the body doesn’t simply adapt — it stays on high alert. “The brain remains in a state of constant alarm. Stress hormones that were meant to be used in short bursts of crisis continue to circulate. Muscles – especially in the lower back, which is especially sensitive to prolonged tension, remain contracted. They do not release completely.”
Over time, this can turn into visible physical symptoms, as Dr Kumar explains. “A limp developing from psychological stress is not an unusual presentation. It is the appearance of chronic, unresolved anxiety when it has been long-term in the body.”
View this post on Instagram
When the body can’t tell what’s real
What makes Shaw’s case particularly striking, the psychiatrist notes, is the nature of the stress itself.
“Six months of living in a part that demanded him to be something that was so much against his instincts as a human being causes an internal struggle that the nervous system perceives as a real danger – constantly. The body does not differentiate between something vividly imagined and something lived.”
While Shaw underwent physiotherapy to manage the pain — but that alone isn’t enough in such cases.
“To anyone who has developed anxiety that has transferred to the body in this manner, the most significant thing is to cease treating the physical symptom. Physiotherapy treated his pain–justly. But the cause was always psychological, and that had its own to attend to. It is not merely that approaches which directly control the threat response of the nervous system, in combination with structured rest and recovery, resolve this, but only manage it,” Dr Kumar concludes.
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to. Always consult your health practitioner before starting any routine.
Share
