Deep end of the Ocean

Cancer survivor Mahima Chaudhary tells Farhana Farook that playing a similar person in The Signature proved cathartic for her

The gorgeous neighbour asking Aamir Khan for a thirst-quencher in the 1993 advert had all the fizz and froth of a showgirl. A few years later, Mahima Chaudhry made her celluloid debut opposite another Khan – Shah Rukh – in Subhash Ghai’s musical bonanza Pardes (1997). Poised for a great take-off, even bagging the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, Mahima’s momentum was nevertheless foiled by a court case from her mentor Ghai. Resolving the rancour, the natural performer went on to impress in Daag: The Fire, Dil Kya Kare, Dhadkan, Lajja and Dobara. While the megawatt smile never abandoned her countenance, in her personal universe, she underwent a tumultuous stir. A traumatic accident in which shards of glass broke into her porcelain skin, an unhappy marriage, single parenting… she dealt with every raw deal. But nothing could come close to prepare her for the cancer diagnosis in 2022. The support of loved ones, particularly daughter Ariana, who nursed her back to health, along with the authenticity of industry friends and fans, helped Mahima restore herself. Being offered Gajendra Ahire’s The Signature was epiphanic for the actress. In playing Ambika, a woman battling a grave illness who nonetheless infuses strength into her friend (Anupam Kher), shaken by his wife’s terminality, she actualised her own anguish and attitude. So much so that it compelled Anupam Kher to call her ‘the real hero’ and ‘a real influencer’, praising her courage ‘to shoot… when she was undergoing chemotherapy and had lost most of her hair’. Excerpts:

Being part of The Signature, where you play a woman grappling with cancer, is nothing short of uncanny…