Fans of Sneha Ullal remember her as the actress who shares an uncanny resemblance to Aishwarya Rai. She broke out into the film industry in Salman Khan’s Lucky: No Time for Love and created fan frenzy for looking like an exact copy of the former Miss World. But the actress said that her body underwent a transformation in the past four years.
Ullal, who has not acted in any movies in the past four years, said that she was recently diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, a rare blood disorder. The 32-year-old, who is set to appear in a Tollywood movie with Amala Paul, said her illness left her physically weak and she didn’t look her best.
“There were times when I did not look great, and when you're not at your best, you don't want to step out of the house and that's what I did,” she added.
She said that she stopped attending award functions as a result but gained strength and confidence with the encouragement of her friends. This, along with medication and a strict fitness regime helped her get through this difficult time.
Ullal is now both physically and mentally strong. She feels she’s come a long way from not being able to stand for more than 40 minutes to shooting her latest film Ayushman Bhava directed by debutante Charantej.
“I'm here, fully fit and fine. I won't say I'm cured because this disease is like diabetes which is not curable but can be kept under control. So my illness is under control right now and I'm set to get going,” she told The Times of India.
Apart from the Tollywood film, Ullal also has a Bollywood project in the pipeline. However, she said she can’t reveal any information about it and only said the shooting will begin in October.