MUMBAI: Former beauty queen-turned-Bollywood actress Manushi Chhillar turned 23 on Thursday. Owing to the lockdown, it's been a very quiet birthday for her this year.

"It is a reflective birthday for me. All that I thought I knew about the world has changed and I have had time to think about this a lot and discuss it with my family and friends. So, it's a very quiet birthday for me as celebrations is the last thing on my mind right now given the pain, loss and suffering I have been witnessing," she said.

Manushi, who is set to make her Bollywood debut opposite Akshay Kumar in the historical drama "Prithviraj", says that she is excited to see how her life and career shape up.

"I have had a blessed life and I thank the universe for everything. I have nothing but gratitude for the exposures that I have had so far and I'm proud that I have been able to express myself completely along the way. My journey has just begun and I'm extremely excited to see how my life and career shapes up," she said.

Manushi realises that the entertainment industry has been hit hard owing to the COVID-19 lockdown but she is confident that Bollywood will bounce back.

(Also read: COVID-19: Manushi Chhillar raises awareness through Unicef campaign)

"I think all the thinkers and visionaries of Bollywood will huddle in making plans to script the industry's comeback, as and when it's feasible. We live in an intimate country, a country that likes to celebrate with everyone, so we will all go back to watching movies in theatres in due course of time," said Manushi.

She added that it is important to wait for everything to bounce back to normalcy.

"We will go back to living our lives for sure but I hope we will all value our freedom, our country, our nature that much more. As of now, we will just need to wait and hope for things to first become better for all the countrymen, economy to bounce back, everyone being safe, healthy and back to working," she said.

SOURCE : IANS

(Also read: Happy birthday Manushi Chhillar; have a look at her top five pictures)