Sonali Bendre reveals her first reaction to cancer diagnosis: ‘Why me?’

Sonali Bendre is once again back to acting with the newsroom-drama series The Broken News. The sequel to the show is going to stream on ZEE5 in May 2024. The actor, who has been vocal about her cancer diagnosis, opened about her journey in a podcast for Humans of Bombay. (Also read: Sonali Bendre, Jaideep Ahlawat, Shriya Pilgaonkar offer true meaning of feminism after Nora Fatehi's comments go viral)

Sonali Bendre recalls her reaction to cancer diagnosis

Sonali was asked how did she deal with her cancer diagnosis and what was her initial reaction. She said, “When I received my cancer diagnosis, my first thought was, ‘Why me?’ I’d wake up thinking it was all a nightmare; I couldn’t believe that this could happen to me. That’s when I started to change the way I thought. Instead of ‘why me?’ I started asking, ‘Why not me?’ I started to feel grateful this wasn’t happening to my sister or my son. I realized I had the strength to deal with this, I had the resources to go to the best hospitals, and the support system to help me through this. Starting to ask ‘why not me?’ helped me start the healing process.”

Sonali Bendre backs cancer survivors

For the unversed, Sonali was diagnosed with stage four, metastatic cancer in 2018. After undergoing treatment in a New York City hospital, she became cancer free in 2021. Post her recovery, she has been advocating awareness and support for cancer survivors. The actor also penned an Instagram post on Cancer Survivors Day in 2021. She wrote, “How time flies... today when I look back, I see strength, I see weakness but most importantly I see the will to not let the C word define how my life will be after it…You create the life you choose. The journey is what you make of it... so remember to take #OneDayAtATime and to #SwitchOnTheSunshine (rainbow, sunshine and heart emojis) #CancerSurvivorsDay.”

Sonali Bendre will next be seen in The Broken News 2, co-starring Shriya Pilgaonkar and Jaideep Ahlawat in crucial roles. The series starts streaming on ZEE5 from May 3.