Mannara Chopra, who was forced to sit idle during the lockdown in 2020, relocated to Hyderabad in October, expecting to immerse herself in work. She was shuttling between Mumbai and Hyderabad, shooting for commercials and other projects. But she moved back to Mumbai in March this year, only to find herself confined to her home a second time by the new wave of the pandemic.
“Last year, when the lockdown was announced in March, I was disheartened by the situation in the country, and depressed at not being able to work. Even when the unlock phase began, things didn’t take off in Mumbai,” Mannara shares.
After moving to Hyderabad, she stayed at a hotel here for over four months. She says she took the risk because she couldn’t sit idle at home. “I am used to working, so it became very difficult to deal with idle time,” she explains.
But she returned to Mumbai in March 2021. “The situation is very scary right now,” the actress says, adding, “For the first time I had to let go of a few projects in Hyderabad and other places; I just don’t want to travel at this point of time.” She appealed to everyone to stay home too.
Mannara believes that she could have contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, as she displayed many of the symptoms even though the disease was still very new in India at that time. She says she suffered from breathlessness, continuous coughing and body ache.
The symptoms worsened, and “I couldn’t breathe,” she says. “Finally, I went to a doctor in Mumbai, and he told me that the situation outside was bad and asked me to stay home.”
“I was unable to breathe, sleep or move my feet,” the actress says. There were no testing kits for COVID available in India at that time, so she couldn’t get a diagnosis. She kept away from others in the house, and practiced steam inhalation and breathing exercises. “I think it was in the third week that I showed signs of recovery,” Mannara said.
Later, her sister, Mitali, who was stranded in the US after flights to India were cancelled, returned on the Vande Bharat service, only to test COVID-19-positive after landing.
Mannara says she is currently managing things on her own in Mumbai. “My parents stay in Delhi; I don’t want to visit them during this time. I am trying to be positive and make the best of the situation,” the actress says.
But she’s still keeping herself engaged. Mannara is taking online classes on articulation. “It helps in improving my diction for dialogue delivery and to express myself better,” says the actress.
Mannara will next be seen in a short, Haale Dil. “It’s a sweet romantic modern tale that describes people’s feelings during a break-up,” she shares.
