Indian rapper, Yo Yo Honey Singh, took a long vacation from the film and music industry a few years ago to deal with his alcoholism and depression. He has been open about his mental illness issues for years but recently confessed that he has bipolar disorder as well.
The controversial rapper recently spoke on the comments he received following his comeback and said that his songs were well accepted by the public but he was not.
Talking to Siddharth Kanan, he said,
When I fell ill a lot of things were going on in life. I had the SLAM tour with Shah Rukh Khan. I had worked on a Star Plus project, I chose its name. I designed it for a year. When the show started, a lot of work was there. I was also doing a Punjabi film. A lot of things were happening. When I collapsed, when I had bipolar disorder and psychotic symptoms on set of Raw Star, maine kaha kuch problem hai mere dimaag mein, kuch hogaya hai. Mereko isko theek karne do (I said there is some problem with my brain, something has happened. I want to fix it)
Yo Yo Honey Singh added,
Mujhe kuch nahi karna, mujhe isko theek karna hai (I don’t want to do anything else, I just want to work on this). It took me five years and I got better. Then, I wanted to make music. But I told my mother, ‘I’m unable to do anything’. She told me, ‘You started as a music producer, start writing beats.
The troubled rapper continued,
I was trying to make a comeback. My songs were hits, but I was still failing. Mota tha, logo ne kaha, ‘Yeh woh look nahi hai, woh return nahi horaha. Gaana hit horaha tha, but mujhe accept nahi karahe they log (I was overweight, people said, this isn’t the look, the return won’t happen. The songs were hits, but people didn’t accept me).
Mental health is a serious issue and not even celebrities are immune to it. Common folk and celebrities often don’t speak up about it because they fear being ridiculed and misunderstood.
It is always a good idea to see a qualified mental health professional about perceived and actual mental health concerns, and to treat people who have such issues with respect and care.
