Loneliness not attractive if affecting mind: Anupam Kher

Team Udayavani, Jun 24, 2018, 9:21 AM IST

Bangkok: Veteran actor Anupam Kher, who recently opened up about his battle with depression, says he wants to spread awareness about mental health issues. The 63-year-old actor says the excessive use of technology and social media has led to people losing human touch.

“Loneliness is not attractive if it is affecting your mind. We are all dealing with a lot of machines these days. There are mobiles and internet. The human touch is missing,” Kher said in a group interview on the sidelines of IIFA Awards.

“We used to live in a small house and we used to frequently bump into each other. So grandfather said whenever you are about to bump, then just hug each other. But today we see boys sitting separately. There is no human touch and no physical touch,” he added.

Kher said the current generation’s over dependence on social media is one of the reasons for depression. “A beautiful scenery is not for a naked eye these days. It is supposed to be captured for Instagram. The young people are stressed because their pictures on Facebook not has enough likes,” he said.

The “Big Sick” actor recently posted a video on YouTube where he talked about the mental health. In the video he encouraged people to overcome depression and not shy away from coming out in the open about the issue. The actor said people have been reacting positively to his message.

“When I approach something then I don’t see whether enough is being done to say what I need to do. I thought it was important to talk about it. I see a lot of younger people around me who are depressed. A lot of suicides have been taking place,” Kher said. 

The veteran actor, who started his journey in Hindi film industry with “Saaransh” and went on to star in in blockbusters like “Karma”, “Daddy”, “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” and “Darr”, will be honoured with Outstanding Achievement Award at IIFA.