Somy Ali: “Walking away from Bollywood was best thing I’ve done in my life”

Former Bollywood actress Somy Ali, who has been part of noteworthy films such as ‘Chupp’, ‘Mafia’ and ‘Teesra Kaun?’, says that while she loved being part of the Hindi film industry, she feels that there were places she could have handled things differently.

The actor, who now runs an NGO called No More Tears, says that she was young and naïve at the time. “I have mixed feelings when I look back to those years of my life. I have no regrets for sure. But I have to admit that I was very young at the time and have no one to guide me. And I ended up trusting the wrong people. In fact, the person who I was listening to was actually someone who I should have never trusted. However, I am proud of my journey. I made sure to be the way I am and spoke up for things I did not agree with,” she says.

Somy says that she has a lot of good memories of becoming an actor. “I remember, as an actor, I used to get to travel so much. I loved that. Also, I loved working with my co-actors Suniel, Mithunda and Om Puri. There were a few people who stood by me when I was involved in a bad relationship. I have bittersweet memories of my time as an actor in India,” she says.

She adds, “I would also like to mention Salman’s mom here. She was so amazing to me. I don’t really remember any great encounters with anyone else. I don’t think it was their fault either as I was also very confused about what I was doing. I was so young and gullible. I also made a lot of mistakes. But I learnt a lot from their mistakes as well. I think what I am today is thanks to the experiences that I have gone through.” However, she feels that it was the best decision on her part to walk away from that career. “I think it was the best thing that I have done in my entire life. I was really suffering and I knew that if I continued, it would really affect my emotional wellbeing and health,” she says.