Alia Bhatt's sister, Shaheen Bhatt has been open about her battle with depression. After opening up about it in an Instagram post, Shaheen even wrote a book titled, 'Never Been (Un)Happier' where she spoke about dealing with depression since her early teenage years. In her recent interview with Rajeev Masand, she spoke about being body shamed and how that has affected her mental health in the past. She also discussed a peculiar incident in the book which affected her self-worth. In her book, Shaheen writes about an incident where she was accompanied by Alia Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt for a photoshoot and at some point, the photographer asked her to leave the frame because Alia and Pooja Bhatt looked similar and 'cute'. Alia Bhatt On Working With Her Boyfriend in Brahmastra: 'I Used to Think, When Will I Get to Work With Ranbir?'

It truly is a heartbreaking moment and till today, Shaheen gets uncomfortable just thinking about it. When asked about this incident, she said, "It’s making me unconformable right now as you are talking about it. You know, women, in general, suffer a lot….Shame I think is the core of depression and it could be any form of shame, and with women, I think body image also tends to be one of the causes for shame. Shame is central and I wish I could make people understand that shame is central to any kind of negative feelings, depression and sadness. It stops you from being vulnerable and you constantly fear that if you will show yourself as you are, you will be rejected by society. And my self-worth was definitely affected because I was at an age where the seeds of that were sown in me."

Alia is known to have been of great support to her sister Shaheen. Last month, Alia too opened up about her battling with anxiety. She further stated that it is because of her sister that she is aware of her condition. Speaking about her dealing with anxiety, Alia said, "No matter how bad it is, I just let myself feel it. Sometimes, I feel like crying for no reason. Then it passes. Initially, I’d be a little confused. I’d constantly give reasons that it’s because of work or maybe I’m tired or haven’t been able to meet anyone... The kind of personality I have, I become a little on the edge."

On the work front, Alia is all set to be seen with Ranbir Kapoor in her upcoming film Brahmastra which has now been postponed to a Summer 2020 release.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 30, 2019 08:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).