'Cry with me my brothers': Adnan Malik posts video in tears, asking for change

Actor Adnan Malik has shared a personal video of himself crying on his Instagram account, while talking about an often-overlooked topic in the caption: the inner child.

In the post on his other public Instagram account, In Presence with Adnan Malik, he wrote, “My inner 11 year old self needed to cry today. He found himself in an old, familiar space of unsafety where his feelings and emotions weren’t safe to be expressed. He felt cornered, gaslit, unseen and trapped by a familiar drama triangle that he never consented to be a part of.”

Reflecting on the impact of societal expectations on emotional expression, the Sadqay Tumharay actor pointed out the general response towards emotional expression, “At the end he was told “you’re too sensitive.”

Malik went on to share how he found peace and healing, “My adult stepped in, set a boundary and asked the other person to leave the room. He then embraced the inner child and took took him into a safe space where he invited his grief.”

The Cake actor found comfort in his vulnerability.

“All of me broke down in empathy and harmony. Your sensitivity is your superpower your sensitivity is a gift to the world your sensitivity is what makes you, you.” The adult reassured my inner child. And we all cried together some more. A grief ritual with all my parts”, Malik said.

He reflected on his experience at the Resistance and Acceptance Men's Work Retreat, where many men shed tears and shared their experiences in a collective expression of healing.

“I’m sharing this here because I want to help dispel the myth that men can’t cry. That men have to hold back their emotions. That it’s not “masculine” to cry”, Adnan Malik explained.

For Adnan Malik, crying is not a sign of weakness but a portal to healing, “Crying is my portal to healing. It’s a super-power. To allow my heart to be penetrated. Like a powerful storm that makes the emotional landscape fertile again”, he added.

Adnan Malik called on people, encouraging them to be unapologetic in their emotional expression, “Cry with me my brothers, sisters and fellow beings. Let’s remove the shame around tears and grieve together to rejuvenate ourselves and the planet. To heal the pain and the grief and the injustice. Crying isn’t a sign of weakness.

It’s a reminder that we are alive.”

His post has received a number of responses from netizens, including celebrities, praising him for opening up about being okay with emotional expression.