It was in 2022 that actor Chhavi Mittal fought the toughest battle of her life with cancer and emerged a winner. She had been documenting her journey on her YouTube channel. Her honest confessions and vlogs manifested into an empowering podcast that took shape about six months ago–Candid Confessions with Chhavi. The conversations oscillate from relationships to health, mental health and cancer.
In the episode with actor and comedian Jamie Lever, she addresses online trolling and its impact. Lever recalls while she was creating content for her audiences in 2020 during the lockdown, there were a lot of positive comments because of her father’s following but then once in a while, a nasty comment would make her wonder where it was coming from. “They would say something about my appearance, my skin, or nose or even my acting. One day someone said, why do you laugh like a chudail (witch). Somebody even called me a transgender. It is not an insult but why would someone write that.” Growing up facing discrimination because of the way she looked, Lever says she’s now come a long way but even after having proved herself with her work, she continues to face the same battles. “I have suffered from obesity, had a weight loss journey, I suffer from PCOD but I don’t like to talk about all that. But to be constantly reminded you’re not good enough, affects you,”she adds.
It was not long ago that Mittal had taken to her Instagram to address the trolls she was facing. A bald patch of hair, induced due to her cancer treatment, had become a topic of discussion and trolling. Conversations like these are sure to help those who face online abuse and sensitise the trolls of the impact it has.
In her podcast with private investigator Rajani Pandit credited as India’s first female detective, the conversation takes an interesting turn when she recalls her peculiar cases – in one such instance, a man’s wife would slap him tightly in the middle of the night and blackmail him into maintaining silence. Troubled, when he hired Pandit as his private detective, she handed him a hidden camera to record the incident. When the wife was questioned with proof, she revealed her past two marriages had been abusive and she had been acting this way inorder to scare her third husband out of turning abusive.
The conversations are insightful, relaxed and not too heavy. Mittal maintains a professional yet candid demeanour during her interactions. She asks questions that often occupy our minds. Why are cancer cases rising, why do food packet labels that mention ‘fortified with nutrients’ remain an unhealthy choice, how much weight must one gain? Follow the podcast if you want to unwind with a light yet insightful conversation.