At 52, actress Lisa Ray is in better shape than ever. The cancer survivor, as she often refers to herself, shares: “I believe, as a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed in 2009 and given three years to live, that experience significantly reshaped my perspective and helped me prioritize different aspects of my life. Since then, on my path to recovery, I’ve placed my health and fitness at the forefront.” The former model, who relocated to Dubai two-and-a-half years ago, explains that motherhood—she has six-year-old twins—has also prompted her to reassess her life goals and strive to be the best version of herself. “It’s altered my approach to working out; I’m no longer focused on external factors, like, ‘have I lost this many pounds?’ Because I genuinely enjoy working out, I don’t feel the external pressure, and I’m not trying to meet anyone else’s standards. It’s about my own standards.” These benchmarks of success also drive her to “eat clean” and work out with a trainer.
She was present at the inauguration of the state-of-the-art Thumbay Advanced Cancer Center, located within Thumbay University Hospital in Ajman, which made her reflect on her own cancer journey. “It was a unique phase of my life,” she recalls, “because you inherently sense that something is deeply wrong, but you don’t know what it is. Once diagnosed, I knew I could take action, even though the first doctor who diagnosed me gave me two years to live and presented me with a chart, stating, ‘the data indicates this.’” She had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of blood cancer. Her initial reaction, she says, was not fear but resolve. “I thought, ‘I am not just a data point.’ I knew it wouldn’t be an easy journey, but I also knew it wouldn’t be the end of the road for me. So, a mix of my stubbornness, my urge to challenge the data, and my belief in the diverse possibilities of being human helped me process the diagnosis,” she explains.
She remembers grappling with accepting her vulnerabilities and the need for help at times. It was around this period that she began documenting her journey on a blog called The Yellow Diaries, sharing her thoughts and experiences. “I started writing my blog and announced my cancer diagnosis, and I believe I was the first Indian person to do so. It was a relief. I think it really helped to express that outpouring, receiving a wave of support and blessings, and engaging in conversations with cancer survivors, people who had been through the journey before me, and those newly diagnosed. It provided me with an incredible emotional foundation from which I could draw a lot of energy,” she says.
As the actress navigated through nausea and contemplated the uncertainties of her condition, she was also coping with trauma—her mother had passed away six months earlier. “My father was incredible,” she says, noting that she also found comfort in the empathy from strangers who reached out to her. “I’ll share something interesting that has stayed with me. When I spoke to many people who were like angels in disguise—whether they were nurses, other cancer patients, or people I met in the waiting room—I would always tell them that they helped me through this journey and enriched my life. They would respond, ‘Down the line, whenever you can, do the same for someone else.’ That has now become an integral part of my philosophy,” she says.
The star of Four More Shots Please! points out that there is still no ‘cure’ for the type of cancer she had—but, she adds, “Due to advancements in immuno-oncology, our expected lifespan has improved dramatically, and there’s a chance of managing it like a chronic disease, similar to diabetes, where constant treatment is required. I am expected to remain on treatment for the rest of my life. I’m very diligent about it, but I’ve gradually reduced my dosage, as I feel intuitively it’s better for me,” she says. She also advocates for holistic living. “I subscribe to natural therapies, like Ayurveda, naturopathy… I see it as an ongoing healing journey; I’m not necessarily aiming for a specific goal, other than living a healthy, happy life and thriving where I am today. I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been at 52, living with an incurable disease.”
Ray says cancer was a wake-up call regarding parenthood. “I was undecided about motherhood. But I think cancer was the catalyst to embrace it. So, even though my journey with my husband to become parents was a bit bumpy, motherhood happened at exactly the right time for me,” she says. Ray and her husband, Jason Dehni, married in 2012 and became parents to twin daughters via surrogacy in June 2018. As an older mother—she embraced her new role in her 40s—“You gain a better perspective; it could go either way, but for me, if I were younger, I just wouldn’t have had the patience, the bandwidth, anything,” she laughs.
Cancer, as she rightly points out, has impacted many lives. When asked about her industry peer Hina Khan, who disclosed her breast cancer stage three diagnosis this year, she says: “I would love to embrace her. What I discovered on my journey is…unless someone specifically asks for help, it’s best to just be present. Just offer your presence, because sometimes, it can get very confusing. When diagnosed, you’ll receive a lot of well-meaning advice, but I think the patient needs to understand, navigate, and take the initiative to ask for it.”
The star, known for her unconventional film choices, explains that her work is driven by instinct. “Honestly, I’m at a point where I don’t have to work. If I choose to work, it has to be something that interests me and keeps me engaged.” She adds that the Bollywood industry is in a space where it’s “embracing some fantastic stories, fantastic female characters, and fantastic roles. A lot of my friends are doing great work, and I’m happy to watch from the sidelines. I do jump in occasionally, but it really has to make sense to me.”
