"It's easy to rile yourself up in those thoughts.”
Vaani Kapoor has faced a challenging mix of success, praise, and controversy in 2025.
The actor’s work in Raid 2 brought commercial success, while her OTT debut in Mandala Murders won critical appreciation.
Yet, the controversy around Abir Gulaal saw her face significant backlash and online criticism.
Reflecting on how she dealt with the difficult period, Vaani said:
“As a human being, you can figure out who you really are when you are at your lowest.
“That’s when you decide if you are going to become cynical, hateful and frustrated because it’s so easy to go down that road.
“You can either be like ‘it’s not my problem’, or get into the self-victim mode where you are like all bad things happen to me. It’s easy to rile yourself up in those thoughts.”
Crediting spirituality for helping her during difficult moments, Vaani continued:
“I am spiritually driven as well and I know how to bring myself back to the centre. Also, I do love my job and it’s not like I have not received love.
“People have been kind to me as well, and I value that a lot.
“All you need at that point is a glimmer of hope. Luckily, I’ve always had a project to look forward to next and start fresh. That’s all I can do as that’s all that there is in my hands.”
Yet, she admitted that anxiety and outside judgment often create further challenges:
“Of course restlessness happens, and anxiety takes over. You are also fighting the pre-conceived notions and judgment from everywhere.
“People have access to put in their opinions, especially due to social media, and sometimes they can be really brutal.
“I get that most of it is noise, but there are people who give you honest constructive feedback. So, I have learned how to separate noise from feedback.”
Despite efforts to rise above the negativity, Vaani Kapoor confessed that the criticism can still sting:
“I’m also on those platforms, and sometimes it hurts you and stings you a little.”
“You feel why would someone be mean, why would they go personal, or why would they berate somebody.
“But then I choose to react better to it. I ask myself do I want to give up because I got bullied or I got hate or do I want to continue?
“I still believe in myself, and there are people who believe in me, so I can’t complain much. But do I want more? Yes, of course I want more and better work.”
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