Sonali Bendre spoke candidly about her cancer journey, explaining that she chose to understand her body instead of treating the experience as a battle to be won. At the grand premiere of ‘Kon Honar Crorepati’, the Marathi version of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ hosted by Madhuri Dixit, Sonali shared how she learned to treat her body with love and found lessons in one of the toughest phases of her life.
Madhuri Dixit praises Sonali Bendre’s strength
During their conversation, Madhuri praised Sonali’s courage and the strength she showed through her cancer journey. Speaking in Marathi, which translates to English, she said, “You’ve had so many different experiences. And we also got to see a new side of you when you overcame cancer. We got to see you emerge as a strong Sonali.”
Sonali Bendre on not seeing cancer as a battle
Sonali replied that she never treated her cancer as a battle she had to win, choosing to focus on understanding her body and learning from the experience. Explaining her view, she said, “I mean, you know, actually, we always say that someone has overcome cancer”She further elaborated, “But, all jokes apart, we say all these things while laughing and joking. But at that time, the actual intention was not to overcome it. It was to understand why this was happening and what I could learn from it. And trust me, I actually learnt a lot from it. And that is how I looked at it.”
Sonali Bendre on why she doesn’t want to fight her own body
Sonali believes that the language of fighting and overcoming can pit a person against their own body. Explaining her thinking, she said, “Because I feel that when we say we have overcome something, it somehow feels like a fight. There is a sense of negativity somewhere. And, after all, it is our own body, isn’t it? The cancer cells are also our own cells. So, how can we fight with ourselves?”.Looking back on the approach she took during that challenging time, Sonali said she chose to treat her body with love and compassion, even when the experience was deeply painful. “So how do I love my body the way it is? And I thought that maybe I should treat it with love. It’s very difficult to love something that was giving you so much pain. But I think that’s probably what worked for me. And that’s where it went.”