Ahsaas Channa: My issue as a teenager was getting a little addicted to attention

Ahsaas Channa was just four-year-old when she started acting, and has been a part of the industry since then. But growing up in showbiz had its own challenges, which she admits she noticed after she became a teen.

“My issue as a teenager was authenticity, getting a little addicted to attention, and trying to be different just to stand out and get more of it – but I also think the mistakes that I made as a teenager have helped me grow into the person I am today,” Channa confesses.

She adds, “I think I’m very comfortable with who I am now, and I try to be as authentic as possible. I don’t care too much about the brand of things I own, or even how I dress or look beyond a point”.

Now, she feels she is “relatively low maintenance because of how high maintenance I was as a teenager”. “I wouldn’t want to change anything about my teenage years, though, so I’d just tell my teenage self to go ahead and live life and make those mistakes, because it’ll help her figure things out and grow into her skin,” adds the actor, who made her debut with film, Vaastu Shastra (2004).

She went on to feature in films such as Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), My Friend Ganesha (2007), Phoonk (2008), and television shows such as Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev, Oye Jassie and Fanaah.

Looking back at her childhood days, the 22-year-old admits, “I had a slightly different childhood because I started acting at a very young age. (But) my childhood was cool… I consider myself very lucky to have had this mix of a ‘normal’ yet different childhood”.

However, anxiety is one thing she continues to struggle with, and constantly keeps a check on her triggers. “For the longest time, I didn’t know I had anxiety – or that what I was feeling was related to anxiety, and so I don’t have a very specific way of dealing with it. Eventually I realised that my breathing issues, or tightness in the chest, or clammy hands might be because of anxiety. I talk to my friends, or my mom who is very supportive… But I’m still trying to figure out what triggers me, and it’s a journey,” shares the actor, who feels being vocal is the way to which pushed her to do a podcast, Dear Teenage Me, which tackles several issues from body image issues to mental health.

“It’s been very inspiring for me to hear people talk about these issues so bravely – I just try to add in my own personal experiences wherever they’re relevant and then let their stories come through… I feel like listening to different people telling different stories is just a necessary thing in today’s times,” she concludes.