Arjun Rampal’s personal revenge in Dhurandhar. (Source: Instagram/@officialjiostudios)Dhurandhar may be just another film for you, but for Arjun Rampal, it was a deeply personal project. While receiving an award recently, the actor opened up about why he considers the film to be his revenge for the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai.“In 2008, on 26/11, I was in this hotel, and I’d come to pick up my friends. We were on our way to the Taj, because we were going to go and celebrate my birthday. 26/11 also happens to be my birthday. One guy was getting ready. God bless him. We were at the bar, we ordered a drink, and the first bomb went off near Mahim. I heard that sound, and the whole glass shook and rattled. We were like, ‘What the hell was that?’ In 10 minutes, our phones were ringing, and everybody said ‘There was some gang war that has broken out in Colaba, so don’t come there’,” Rampal recalled at India Today’s Hello! Hall of Fame Awards.He added, “In 20-30 minutes, the whole of Four Seasons was cordoned off. Adarsh Jetia very gracefully gave me a suite and said, ‘You can stay here for the night, but we cannot let anybody go out, it’s not safe.”“On my birthday, I saw the horrors of 26/11 attack play out. In the morning, when I drove back home, I had to stop at least three times because I thought I was going to be sick. When Aditya Dhar narrated to me the 26/11 scene, I knew I was going to have my revenge, and that’s what I did with Dhurandhar,” he concluded his speech.The lingering trauma of experiencing a harrowing incident can follow someone for years, and as Sonal Khangarot, licensed rehabilitation counsellor and psychotherapist, The Answer Room, explained, people tend to swing to extremes: either becoming overly compliant and numb, or suddenly rebelling with anger, anxiety, or impulsive choices. Arjun Rampal and director Aditya Dhar. (Source: Instagram/@rampal72)Impact of witnessing traumatic events a in the long termAccording to her, performance and well-being decline when stress or pressure exceeds an optimal level. And when freedom is restricted, individuals experience an intense urge to regain it. Balance is key, with healthy environments offering guidance without suffocation, and connection without dependency, explained the psychotherapist.Khangarot elaborated that human beings need both structure and autonomy. “When control is excessive, it can lead to learned helplessness, chronic stress, loneliness, and difficulty trusting one’s own judgement,” she said.Story continues below this adEven after someone returns to a stable routine or a successful career, the nervous system may still be living in the old environment. “Trauma isn’t only a memory, it’s a body experience. When a person spends extended periods in fear, the brain becomes wired for survival mode. The amygdala stays hyper-alert, the body stores tension, and reminders, small sounds, authority figures, loneliness, can trigger the same emotional reactions,” she explained further.ALSO READ | ‘Open courtyards, quiet luxury’: Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar bungalow isn’t really in Karachi; find out its real locationKhangarot added that in therapy, she often sees people confused because ‘life is fine now,’ yet grief, panic, or breakdowns appear suddenly. This happens because the brain has not processed or integrated what happened; it keeps replaying unfinished emotional loops.”According to her, healing requires time, safe relationships, and gradual processing so the nervous system learns that the danger is truly over and it is safe to live in the present again.DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.