Sanjay Dutt’s first wife was Richa Sharma who passed away in 1996. At that point, Sanjay and Richa’s daughter Trishala was just 8 years old. In a recent interview, Trisha spoke about her mother’s passing after being diagnosed with brain cancer and and how it affected her. After her mother passed away, Trishala was raised in New York by her maternal grandparents. While Sanjay remained occupied with his film career in India, he frequently travelled to spend time with her.In a recent interview, Trishala recalled that her struggles with bullying began very early in childhood, mainly because of her Indian identity. “I faced a lot of hardship and a lot of taunting from children around me because I was a child at the time, and I did not have a safe space,” she sai in an interview on Youtube channel Inside Thoughts Out Loud. As she entered middle school, things became harder after she gained weight. By high school, matters intensified further as classmates became aware of her famous family background. Reflecting on that period, Trishala admitted she often felt isolated and wished she had emotional support during those years. She said she had “no one to lean on” and wished she had “someone to talk to when I was younger.”Trishala also revisited the painful chapter of losing her mother. Richa Sharma passed away in 1996 after battling brain cancer, leaving Trishala without one of the most important figures in her life. Sharing details about her mother’s illness, she said, “My mother passed away in 1996 when I was 8 years old, and she passed away from a brain tumour. She was diagnosed in 1989. When they found out, it was already grade 4. That type of brain cancer is one of the deadliest and most aggressive human cancers.”During that difficult period, Sanjay Dutt was balancing his acting commitments in India while trying to support his family in the United States. Trishala explained, “Dad was splitting his time between India and the US. He was back and forth because he was working, and it was hard to stay here for her entire treatment while also being an actor back home.”Richa underwent treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the same hospital where Sanjay’s mother, Nargis Dutt, had received treatment before her death. Though Richa initially recovered in New York, her health declined again after returning to Mumbai.As tragedy unfolded around her, Trishala found herself seeking comfort in food. She revealed that emotional eating eventually led to weight-related struggles. “When I was younger and my mother was going through cancer, I developed a weight problem because I turned to food for comfort,” she shared.She also faced judgment because she did not match public expectations of what a celebrity’s daughter should look like. “People think that if you are a celebrity’s daughter, you have to look a certain way and I just didn’t look the part of Sanjay Dutt’s daughter,” she said.Trishala shared that visiting India during her childhood often left her feeling withdrawn because of the constant attention from paparazzi. Being repeatedly photographed brought unwanted scrutiny and harsh remarks, which deeply affected her. “When I was a child, so many things were written about me, people would leave mean comments,” she recalled. Reflecting on how those experiences shaped her, she added, “Nobody has thicker skin than me because I have seen it all at a very tender age.”For those not in the know, Sanjay Dutt had battled substance abuse during the 1970s and 1980s but turned things around after seeking treatment at a rehabilitation centre in the mid-1980s. It was during that phase that he met actor Richa Sharma. The two tied the knot in New York in 1987 and became parents to Trishala a year later. However, their happiness was overshadowed when Richa was diagnosed with brain cancer not long after.
