Mahima Choudhary recently spoke about a tragic accident early in her career during the shooting of Dil Kya Kare and how it deeply affected both her personal and professional life. Recalling the incident, he said that he was not aware of the injuries on his face until he looked at himself in the mirror. Despite his injuries, he initially insisted on continuing shooting, but director Prakash Jha encouraged him to rest.

“When I had the accident, I didn’t realize that I had so many cuts on my face. I came to know later when I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Earlier, I was telling Prakash ji (Prakash Jha, director) that if nothing has happened, let’s shoot,” she told Radio Nasha. ”Because the doctors had done the scans etc. He said, ‘No, no, let’s wait, we’ll go out right now and talk about dates.’ When I looked at my face I realized that my face was hurt.” 67 pieces of glass were removed from his face.

Mahima asked Ajay Devgan and Prakash Jha not to reveal the incident in the hope of protecting her career. He commended the production team for respecting his wishes, as the story unfolded only 20 years later.

“When Ajay and Prakash ji came back, my first thing was, ‘Please don’t tell anyone that I have gone through this. Let me at least try to see what I can do to save my career. This is a big deal that no one from production ever told anyone. After 20 years, I told the story and then people found out. I’d appreciate it. I used to go on the set and everyone could see it,” she recalled.

However, a film magazine secretly photographed her and labeled her “Scarface”, a moment she recalls with hurt. The actor also shared how she walked away from a film with Satish Kaushik and Anil Kapoor, hiding her injuries by faking a broken leg. He recalled the extreme stress he felt during that time, especially since one of his eyes appeared smaller even after the surgery. “It was hard because I was so young when I went through it,” she said.

“Ajay used to say that everything will be fine after the surgery but I did not believe it. I was thinking about other career options. Even today one of my eyes is smaller than the other. At that time, it was very stressful. I never faced the camera directly. I always squint my face a little bit,” she said.

Although it was a challenging period, Mahima expressed resilience in finding ways to advance her career. Mahima Chaudhary will next be seen in Signature, which will stream on ZEE5 from October 4.