Actress Kalyani born as Poornitha made her acting debut as a child artiste in Prabhu Deva's 'Alli Thantha Vaanam' in 2001. After more than two dozen films and serials as a little girl in later years she played the female lead in many serials including 'Andal Azhagar' and 'Ganga'.

Kalyani who is married to businessman Rohit and has a daughter now resides in Bengaluru. Recently she has posted an emotional message about her mother who passed away by suicide in 2014.

She wrote "Trigger Warning: This petition has content that refers to death by suicide. 24 December, 2014: The day I lost two souls. What started off as a normal day turned into the most horrific day of my life. I lived next door to my mother, and as per routine, was getting ready to go to the gym with her. Upon ringing her doorbell, she didn’t seem like her chirpy, active self. Something felt off, and she looked groggy. I asked her to get ready, gave her some lime juice, and went to get ready myself.

I returned 20 mins later to pick her up. I rang the bell several times. By now, my worst fears were looming over me - something did not feel right. I managed to break the door open. The dogs were no longer barking and could not be seen.

I ran inside, only to find my mother had hung herself and died by suicide. I was 23-years-old, and my life changed forever that day.

My mother was my best friend, and I could not imagine a world without her in it. I felt my soul also die that day. My mother’s diary revealed that she had been sad for a long time. If only she had told any of us.

Lost, and feeling hopeless, I too tried to take my own life. I tried to seek help - calling local helplines, but no one picked up. My husband found me, and helped me, and today, with all the help I have gotten, I am doing fine.

There must be so many people out there who are trying to get help, but are not able to because no one is answering the helpline. And I want to change that. No one should lose their mother because they could not get help.

And the first step towards changing this is making sure everyone know about Kiran - the national suicide prevention helpine. OTT platforms are a welcome addition to the lives of millions of viewers around the world. Based on a study, India will have over 500 million OTT subscribers by 2023, with content that primarily caters to the 15-35 years age group.

I want the 24x7 free tele counseling mental health helpline to be displayed across all Indian OTT platforms. Adding this number as a message during relevant scenes, and before a show starts, will make viewers aware of whom to reach out to when they need help. Sign my petition. Link is in my bio.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kalyani Rohit➖Project kintsugi (@kalyanirohit)