In a heartfelt conversation with the YouTube channel Inside Thoughts Out Loud, Trishala shared painful memories of racism, bullying, body shaming, and losing her mother at a very young age.

The daughter of Sanjay Dutt and the late actress Richa Sharma said she first experienced bullying when she was just five or six years old while growing up in New York. According to Trishala, many children around her made fun of her because she was Indian, and at that age, she did not have a safe space or anyone she could truly lean on emotionally.

As she entered middle school, things became harder after she gained weight during a difficult phase in her life. Trishala revealed that the bullying continued, and by the time she reached high school, people had also started recognizing her famous family background. She admitted that she often felt alone during those years and wished she had someone she could openly talk to while growing up.

Trishala also opened up about losing her mother, Richa Sharma, to brain cancer in 1996 when she was only eight years old. She shared that her mother had been diagnosed with an aggressive stage-four brain tumor in 1989, shortly after Trishala was born. Calling it one of the deadliest forms of cancer, Trishala recalled how difficult those years were for the family.

At the time, Sanjay Dutt was balancing his acting career in India while frequently traveling between India and the US to be with his wife during treatment. Richa was treated at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the same hospital where Sanjay Dutt’s mother, Nargis Dutt, had earlier received treatment for cancer.

After her mother’s passing, Trishala said she turned to food for comfort, which later led to weight issues. She admitted that people often judged her appearance because she did not fit the public’s idea of what a celebrity’s daughter should look like. Trishala shared that during her visits to India, constant paparazzi attention and harsh comments made her withdraw emotionally and become extremely self-conscious at a young age.

Speaking about why she chose to become a therapist, Trishala shared that she wanted people to understand that struggling emotionally is normal. She said nobody has to pretend to have everything together all the time, and that people should know they are not alone in their battles. Today, Trishala Dutt works as a mental health professional in New York and continues to inspire many with her honesty and openness about mental health struggles.