Bollywood’s fight against leprosy gains momentum through stars like Dimple Kapadia, Amitabh Bachchan, and R. Madhavan. Dimple’s personal victory over the disease at age 12, before her ‘Bobby’ breakout, spotlights a curable scourge still marred by stigma.
This ancient malady, leprosy, stems from bacterial invasion of skin and nerves, causing numbness, blemishes, and potential deformities if untreated. Yet, modern medicine offers full recovery via straightforward regimens—information central to January 23’s global awareness drive, aimed at ending isolation.
Dimple’s memoir-like accounts detail childhood humiliation: a elbow sore drew barbs predicting her ousting from school. Oblivious to the term, she persisted, healing fully and landing ‘Bobby’—a serendipitous pivot courtesy Raj Kapoor.
Amitabh Bachchan escalates the discourse, endorsing 2018 initiatives against entrenched prejudices. R. Madhavan, as Lepra India’s face, mobilizes for early screening, underscoring leprosy’s defeatability alongside other epidemics.
These advocates converge on a truth: biology bows to treatment, but societal attitudes lag. Survivors, reintegrated, face undue scorn. Dimple’s journey, from whispers of shame to roars of applause, models reinvention. As World Leprosy Day nears, their plea resonates—replace judgment with support, ignorance with knowledge. True stardom lies in uplifting the sidelined.