~~!! HOTSHOT Ashish Chaudhary aka Raghav Singhania AT !!~~ - Page 15

How Aashish Choudhary's life fell apart... and then came together again

This is the story of film and television actor Aashish Choudhary's plunge to the nadir of depression, when the actor lost his sister and brother-in-law during 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

Today, as he looks on at his newly-born twin-girls Aashish wonders what kind of a curse had overtaken his and his family's life. Looking back on the dark days of despair Aashish says, "When I lost my sister Monica and my brother-in-law Ajit to the terror attack I thought things could never get worse. I began to pick up the shattered pieces of my heart. My wife Shamita and I focused on looking after my sister's two children as our own."

But then God had other plans. Soon after this unspeakable tragedy more catastrophe struck Aashish's family. "My parents met with a near-fatal road accident. My mother broke her spine and my father fractured his right arm in two places. My wife went into a depression and had to be hospitalised. At one point all three of my most loved ones " my parents and my wife were in hospital together. And our dog was dying at the same time."

Because of all his personal problems Aashish also lost his movie career. There came a time when Aashish stared at a near-empty bank account. "My wife was pregnant with our son Agastya and I had Rs 7,000 in my account. I realised my career as an actor had gone out of hand while I was looking into the crisis at home. While I started my career as an actor from scratch on another medium, television, I ventured into entrepreneurship. Today I'am financially sound enough to look after my wife, parents and all my five children. My bread comes from my business ventures. Acting provides the butter."

The five children that Aashish refers to are son Agastya, just-born twin daughters (yet to be named) and his deceased sister's two children Kanishk and Ananya.

Aashish has bought two adjacent flats in a Mumbai highrise, one for his wife and five kids and the other for his parents.

Among all the calamities that have been enumerated the one that needs to be mentioned is the the one that befell Aashish's earlier flat. "The entire flat was overtaken by termites. When the pest controllers came they said they had seen nothing like it. Then, one day my car suddenly burnt down. To this day no one knows how and why it happened. I began to believe in buri nazar. My friends Farah Ali Khan (Sanjay Khan's daughter) and Wardha Nadiadwala (producer Sajid Nadiadwala's spouse) did pujas and rituals to ward off whatever evil had overtaken my life."

It was at this time that Aashish went back to television. "That's where I had started my career. And that's where I rediscovered my bearings. My serial Ek Mutthi Aasman has brought me the kind of fan-following that I never imagined. Movies could never get me the same fame."

Aashish's life has done a complete turn-around. "I am today far more appreciative of what I have. If I have survived the blows of fate it's because of my son Agastya. His smile kept all of us hopeful at the time of despair. We would pass him around, cuddle him and feel revived."

Now there are the twin daughters. "I can't believe the joy they bring to me each time I see them." Aashish's family toyed with the idea of naming one of the twin girls after his sister. "But we dropped the idea. Every time we'd call out my daughter's name we would be reminded of the tragedy."