Tamil Actor Vishnu Vishal Pens Letter on Coping With Depression

The actor also shared how his divorce had affected him and his career.

Vishnu Vishal pens emotional note about his battle with depression.

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

Actor Vishnu Vishal is very well-liked in the Tamil film industry. With hits like Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran and Ratchasan in recent years, the star’s career path has seen an upward trajectory and his fan base keeps growing every year.

However, Vishnu has now taken to Twitter to write a long, emotional post about how his divorce after 11 years left him a broken man, resulting in him taking to alcoholism. Vishnu starts by saying that “the last two-and-a-half-years have been extremely difficult, filled with dark days and darker nights.”

The actor continues that at a time when his professional life was on a high his personal one was ‘falling apart.’

“In 2017, my wife and I separated after being together for 11 years. Not only did we have to live in two different houses, this separation also distanced me from my son, who was only a few months old at the time.”

Vishnu Vishal, Actor

Taking to alcohol, Vishnu recounts that he spent several sleepless nights, which in turn made him physically sick resulting in a surgery. Moreover, he also came under financial woes, and his own production house faced issues that resulted in him dropping a movie he had shot for almost a month.

Another major surgery on the sets of the Prabhu Solomon’s Kaadan resulted in him being bed-ridden for nearly three months and putting on 11 kgs, while eight of his films were cancelled.

Vishnu adds that all this while he was oblivious to how his condition affected his family. However, when he realised he decided to take control of the situation.

The actor saw a therapist regularly, went back to working out under a trainer, and eating healthy, and he also made critical lifestyle choices such as blocking out judgemental people and spending time off social media. Vishnu said that with time, he was able to regain his health — both mental and physical — and is currently working on his next film FIR, with four more projects lined up.

Vishnu added that the reason for his Twitter post was to tell people that they can bounce back from a bad period in their lives anytime, with discipline and positivity. He shared two photos of his drastic transformation before and after his injury.

Vishnu even likened his journey to that of Surya’s character from Vaaranam Aayiram, wherein he undergoes a period of depression, alcoholism and drug abuse after his girlfriend dies. Vishnu termed his journey the ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’ way.