[World Cancer Day] 5 women from Bollywood whose struggles with cancer are truly inspirational

From Manisha Koirala to Tahira Kashyap, these women battled the disease and are now helping to raise awareness around cancer.

Tuesday February 04, 2020 , 4 min Read

February 4 marks World Cancer Day and is designated to raise awareness of cancer and encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. Battling cancer is tough, it alters your life but it's not the end. Cancer survivors are inspirations and a ray of hope for many others who are also battling the disease.

Cancer can be tougher on people who are in the limelight as they have to deal with intense public scrutiny. However, making the diagnosis public can have a positive effect on people, and help them in their battle against cancer.

cancer survivors — (Top) Sonali Bendre, Lisa Ray, Tahira Kashyap; (Bottom) Nafisa Ali, Manisha Koirala.

Manisha Koirala

In 2012, Manisha Koirala was diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer. The actress of the Bombay and Dil Se fame writes about her struggle with the disease in her memoir, Healed: How Cancer Gave Me A New Life which was published in December 2018.

In it, she reveals that for over a decade she had abused her body and cancer taught her to lead a better lifestyle. Now, she hopes to promote the importance of preventive lifestyle and early detection.

“The fear of being abandoned had chased me all my life. This fear, however, was unlike anything I had experienced before. It was the fear of being abandoned by life itself,” she said in an interview.

She took a break from acting in 2012 and returned five years later with the coming-of-age drama Dear Maya, Netflix's Lust Stories and Sanju.

Lisa Ray

Lisa Ray was one of the first actresses to make her cancer diagnosis public. The Indo-Canadian actress had multiple myeloma, a cancer that affects white blood cells. She was diagnosed in 2009 and after a successful stem cell transplant, she announced that she was cancer free.

She has revealed that her diagnosis shocked her at first, which was then followed by denial. However, eventually she tried to transform the experience into something which could help others.

During her treatment, she used her blog ‘The Yellow Diaries’ to post details of her treatment and pictures of her journey. She worked to remove the oppression and burden people try associating with the disease through her blog.

She has championed the cause of multiple myeloma, a little-known form of cancer and helped raise funds for its research. She has also supported other initiatives such as the ‘Pantene Beautiful Lengths’ and the ‘Multiple Myeloma M-Moving Together Toward The Cure Walk’.

She even chronicled her life, love, and cancer experiences through sarees. The ‘Ray of Hope’ saree collection in which each saree has a story behind it.

Sonali Bendre

After being diagnosed with cancer in 2018, Sonali Bendre had an uphill battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with a "high-grade cancer" that had metastasized. The cancer had spread from the primary tumour to all over her abdomen.

On her husband Goldie Behl’s insistence, she sought treatment in New York. Only after getting there, did the doctors inform her that she had stage IV cancer and had only a 30 percent chance of survival.

The actress took to Twitter to share her diagnosis and used social media to document her cancer journey.

Tahira Kashyap

Filmmaker and writer Tahira Kashyap was diagnosed with pre-invasive breast cancer in September 2018. She was detected with DCIS - ductal carcinoma in situ - in her right breast with high grade malignant cells. She underwent a mastectomy procedure to surgically remove her breasts.

She has revealed that she was not ready to share it with the world. However, she decided that her making the diagnosis public would help remove the stigma and taboo associated with cancer. She is now spreading awareness about early breast cancer detection awareness and is sparing no medium to take it forward.

Nafisa Ali

The yesteryear actress, Nafisa Ali Sodhi was diagnosed with stage 3 peritoneal and ovarian cancer. The politician and activist was diagnosed in 2018 and used Instagram to share health updates with people to raise awareness for the need for early diagnosis. Diagnosed at the age of 60, she has now turned into a crusader for early detection of cancer, especially among women. She has featured in films such as Junoon, Major Saab, Bewafaa , Life In A... Metro and Yamla Pagla Deewana.

(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)