Somy Ali turns a year younger and happy on March 25. The Bollywood actor turned humanitarian, who now runs her NGO, No More Tears (NMT), will continue with her usual birthday ritual this year too.
“To be honest, I use my birthday as an excuse to get donations for No More Tears. The invitation always states that in lieu of presents, I request that you make a donation to No More Tears. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely excited that we have over 80 RSVP’s and I get to spend time with people I do not get a chance to do due to the nature of my work. Since 2007, my birthday has been solely dedicated to raising funds for NMT,” she says.
Revealing about her idea of a birthday celebration, Somy shares that it means being around people who genuinely care for you and take time off their hectic lives to be there for you on your special day. “It displays true love and care from your friends. During the pandemic, I spent my birthday with my very close friend, also a victim advocate, watching movies in my apartment,” she adds.
Her most memorable birthday was in Mumbai when she turned 21. The celebration was held in the Sea Rock Hotel. “I had tons of fun because all my co-stars were present and close friends at the time like Raveena [Tandon Thadani], Chunky [Pandey], Govinda, and many others,” she smiles, reminiscing the time.
*This time Somy is celebrating her birthday as a fundraiser in my apartment on 26th March.* “Those invited are a rather eclectic group of people from victims’ advocates, lawyers, Judges, my close friends, our annual luncheon committee members who are NMT’s heroes as they bring in over $250,000 every year through our luncheon, our Board of Directors, two very special surprise guests whom I can’t name, and above all, my younger brother will be there which means the world to me including his friends I grew up within Miami,” she says.
Happy marking a new year in her life, Somy sees aging as a reality of life. The saying age is just a number, according to her, is something that people say to make themselves feel better about aging.
“Aging is tougher for women than for men. Who doesn’t want to be 25 again and have the wisdom of a 45-year-old? However, aging has taken a different process now with people really taking care of themselves especially in the movie industry with nonstop workouts and just taking care of one’s skin. Look at how Shilpa [Shetty Kundra], Karisma [Kapoor], Kajol [Devgn], Rani [Mukerji], and many others in my age group look even today. They are drop dead gorgeous with well maintained figures. They have not aged at all in my opinion. Who can better defy beauty than my ultimate favourite, Rekha? She is simply ageless! So, I would say aging is more of a psychological dilemma for many rather than appearance wise because no one looks their actual age in the film industry anymore. For men, Anil [Kapoor], Aamir [Khan], Shah Rukh [Khan], they all look amazing. For a layman, aging is perhaps not as difficult as those who are in the limelight. The best thing to do is to learn acceptance or it can really impact one’s psyche in a negative way,” she explains.
When asked about the three wishes she would ask for if she had a magic wand, Somy is quick to reply, “This birthday, I wish for what I have wished for since 2007, may the universe give me the courage and the strength to continue saving lives. I also hope that I am forever strong to fight the backlash of sharing my truth even at the risk of countless trolls and haters because the joke is on them as my experiences are what I am sharing with the world in hopes of helping others who have endured the same trauma like I did.”
