Sonali Bendre on beating cancer: ‘I’m grateful that I can see my child grow up’

Actor Sonali Bendre’s battle with cancer is well-documented. The actor was diagnosed with the disease back in 2018 and she spent several months in New York for treatment. After four years, the actor has finally returned to work, as a judge on reality show DID Li’l Masters. In a recent interview, Sonali opened up about her battle with the deadly disease and her decision to resume working. (Also read: Sonali Bendre says she wont be defined by ‘C word’, shares before-and-after picture of recovery)

Sonali was diagnosed with metastatic cancer in 2018 and underwent treatment for it. After beating the disease later that year, she returned to India but did not resume working. The actor says she wanted to get back to her full fitness and energy levels before taking the plunge.

Speaking to Pinkvilla, Sonali said, “I am just grateful that I am back, grateful that I can see my child grow up, and grateful that I can be here for my parents, just all those things. I am grateful for so much. And yes, not just back, but back in a way where you are healthy enough to go and sit on a set and work for 12 to 18 hours, now that is really being back. Any other way of being back would be so wishy-washy and wouldn’t be so much fun.”

Sonali is married to filmmaker Goldie Behl. The actor says that Goldie has not just been supportive of her decision to return to work, he has actually been pushing her to do it sooner. She said, “He has been asking me to do this much earlier. He is like, ‘you are fine, your brain is so sharp, just get back’. He has been telling me, ‘you should get back to work’.”

After making her debut with Naraaz in 1994, Sonali went on to act in several successful films like Sarfarosh, Diljale, and Hum Saath Saath Hain, before taking a break from acting in the early 2000s. She returned to the spotlight a few years later as the judge of reality show Indian Idol in 2008. Through the next decade, she appeared as a judge on a number of reality shows like India’s Got Talent, Hindustan ke Hunarbaaz, and India’s Best Dramebaaz.