Hamsa Nandini talks on battle with breast cancer, returning to cinema, establishing a cancer foundation named after her mother

Actress Hamsa Nandini, who shot to fame with director Vamsee’s Anumanaspadam, made a mark with her brief appearances in several prominent films, from Mirchi to Atharintiki Daaredi to Legend and Rudramadevi. However, her personal life took a turn for the worse, when she was diagnosed with grade 3 carcinoma in July 2020, when she’d returned to shoot after lockdown.

Her mother also confronted a similar battle with breast cancer 18 years ago and passed away. In a heart-wrenching post on Women’s Day, she shared that the ghosts of her past haunted her upon the diagnosis, after which she underwent surgery and got the tumour removed too. Braving past 16 cycles of chemotherapy, she assumed that the worst was over, though destiny had other ideas.

The relief only proved momentary when she was tested positive for BRCA1 (Hereditary Breast Cancer), where medicos indicated there’s 70% chance of another (breast) cancer in the coming years. Invasive prophylactic surgeries were the only way forward and she went through the procedure, after which she made several key changes to her life.

Hamsa promised herself that she wouldn’t let cancer define her life and wanted to confront it with a smile, returning to films and educating/inspiring others with her story. Thanks to early diagnosis, competent doctors and a strong family, she has stayed true to the promises and made a comeback to cinema with a shoot in November 2022. She has multiple projects lining up for a release.

“I feel alive in front of the camera and returning to work has been very therapeutic. I feel stronger and energised than ever before. I am grateful to the universe to be doing well now and I’m happy to announce I’ll be establishing the Yamini Cancer Foundation, named after my late mother, also a victim of breast cancer,” she shared.