Bigg Boss fame Sidharth Bhardwaj, who recently returned to television screens with 'The 50', opened up about his troubled childhood. In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, the actor recalled growing up in a violent household, facing domestic violence, and being bullied in school. He also revealed that his father would beat his mother in front of him, even though she had taken care of the family when his father was bedridden.
Father's Troubled Past
My father had a tough past—he was a boxer, gangster, and faced many legal cases. My parents were together since they were 17–18, from their college days. My mother liked him for his 'bad boy' image, and she was quite bold too. When I was born, my mother told my father that this wasn't the right environment to raise a child. So he decided to leave that life behind for me. He may have left it physically, but emotionally it was hard for him. He had grown up in that world where everyone knew him. After moving away, he still struggled and would often go back to the village, sit outside with his best friend, and spend time there.
Father's Accident When Sidharth Was Nine
My father was living his life as if he were lost. Then, when I was 9 years old, something very tragic happened—someone pushed him from the 6th floor. Even after such a serious fall, he didn't immediately feel the pain. Despite his condition, he somehow took a rickshaw and went home first instead of going to the hospital. He collapsed at home, and only then did we rush him to the hospital. When he regained consciousness, we asked him why he didn't go straight there. He said he just wanted to see his son once before dying.
Father Bedridden for Five Years
After that incident, my father was bedridden for almost five years. His body had rods placed in multiple areas, and it was a very difficult time for us. What made it even harder was that both my mother's and father's families turned their backs on us. They didn't support us at all, as they were against my parents' marriage. We were very young then and didn't fully understand everything, but it was an extremely tough phase for our family.
Mother's Sacrifice and Resilience
My mother started working, earning just Rs 900 a month. She would wake up around 5:30 or 6 in the morning. The first thing she had to do was help my father, who was bedridden. It wasn't easy—she had to take him to the bathroom, clean him, bathe him, and then put him back on the bed. At that time, my sister was just around 6–7 years old, and I was about 9. I would try to help however I could, but most of it was handled by my mother.
After taking care of my father, she would cook for us, get us ready, and send us to school. Then she would leave for work, which was about 9 km away. To save money, she would take a rickshaw only one way, so she could use the remaining money to make something nutritious like bone soup for my father. There were times when I would ask her for a small toy, which cost just Rs 7 back then, and she would quietly say, 'I don't have the money.'
Mother Built a Successful Business
My mom started with just Rs 900 a month by distributing pamphlets. Step by step, she grew it, and within a few years, she had built one of the biggest advertising agencies. My mother is a real success story. It was not easy for my father to accept this new reality. He had lived a completely different life before. After being bedridden for years and then recovering, everything had changed. He was no longer the same person or living the same life he once had.
Domestic Violence Escalated
My mom created everything, but he couldn't accept it. He had been a gangster, then became bedridden, and when he got back up, life had completely changed. My mother was earning more. He had once lived a very different life, but after his recovery, everything had changed, and he couldn't handle it. He became angry and violent. I remember one incident when he punched my mother and knocked out all her teeth in front of my eyes. Every day felt like a struggle.
There were moments when we were scared even in our own home. My father would wear his boots and kick my mother in the stomach while she was sleeping. Even as children, we experienced things no one should have to go through. Despite everything, I don't see him only with anger. I believe he was a deeply troubled person. He had gone through a lot himself, and somewhere, he lost his way. We would lock ourselves in rooms at night, trying to feel safe. We tried to hide all of this from the outside world and pretended everything was normal. That was the biggest struggle of our lives.
Bullying at School
Even going to school wasn't easy. Other kids would make fun of us, call us names, and assumed we came from a rich family. All this was because we studied at a renowned school. At school, we would pretend everything was fine and we would hide that we were being beaten at home, and that we would be beaten again when we returned. In all of this, it was just us—me, my mother, and my sister. My mother always protected my sister the most. She's very emotional, and anyone who meets her can see that instantly.
Standing Up at 16
When I was 16, I finally reacted. Things had gone too far. I had seen my mother being hurt again and again, and I couldn't take it anymore. At that moment, I felt that if I didn't stand up, nothing would change. I couldn't watch him hit my mother anymore. It was a breaking point for me—when everything I had held inside came out. So I took the chain of my dog and hit my father with it.
