One of the most prominent names in the South Indian film industry, Khushbu Sundar, has been an advocate of women’s rights. The actress-turned-politician and activist is hailed for her brave and confident front. In 2023, Khushbu was nominated as a member of the National Commission for Women and has worked for the rights of women in society.
Born as Nakhat Khan in 1970 to Muslim parents in Mumbai, she was given the stage name Khushbu by her parents when she started her career as a child artist. She got her first break in the 1980 film, The Burning Train, in which she played the role of the girl singing the song, Teri Hai Zameen. In her illustrious career, Khushbu has appeared in over 185 films, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi.
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Just like her tremendous professional life, Khushbu has hogged the limelight for speaking her mind. The actress stunned everyone when she decided to go public with the details of her sexual abuse by her own father. In an interaction with Barkha Dutt on Mojo Story, Khushbu talked about her ordeal with sexual abuse and revealed she was merely 8 when it started. In her words:
“I think when a child is abused, it scars the child for life and it’s not about a girl or a boy. My mother has been through the most abusive marriage. A man who probably thought it was his birthright to beat up his wife, beat up his children, sexually abuse his only daughter. When my abuse started I was just 8 years old and I had the courage to speak against him when I was 15.”
In the same interaction, the actress-turned-politician, Khushbu, shared that she only took a stand for herself at the age of 15. Khushbu further mentioned that the reason behind staying silent was because of the fear that her other family members, too, would be abused. Talking about her biggest fear amid all the fiasco, Khushbu shared:
“One fear that stayed with me was my mom may not believe me because I have seen her in that environment where there was ‘kuch bhi hojaye mera pati devata hai’ mindset. But at 15 I thought that it was enough and I started revolting against him. I was not even 16 and he left us with whatever we had and we didn’t know where the next meal will come from.”
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After Khushbu Sundar revealed the gruesome story of her abuse by her own father, there was a lot of uproar in the media. While some questioned her guts, others came in support of the actress for her brave stand. Talking to the media after her revelation, Khushbu stated that she was not ashamed of what she said, rather the perpetrators should be the one feeling ashamed of it.
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After her multiple roles as a producer, actor, presenter, screenwriter, social media personality, and champion of women’s rights, Khushbu joined politics in 2010. She joined DMK initially but later shifted to Congress and became the party’s spokesperson. In 2020, Khushbu joined the BJP and is currently serving as a member of the BJP's National executive committee. Talking about her personal life, Khushbu married actor, director and producer Sundar, and they are parents to two daughters, Avantika and Anandita.
Despite being a big name in the entertainment and political world, Khusbhu showed immense courage to go public and speak about the darkest phase of her childhood. The repercussions of her abuse stayed on with her, and she considers it one of the toughest things to forget.
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