Anurag Basu is a well-known Indian director in the film industry, who has given several hits, including, Barfi, Ludo, Gangster: A Love Story and many more. But what many of us might not know is that he was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2004 and the doctors even told him that he wouldn’t live long.
In a recent interview, he opened up about his battle with cancer and why he feels blessed to be a part of the film industry.
He soon started getting blisters around his mouth and the doctor advised him to get a thorough check-up. However, he kept delaying it and went for shoots despite his deteriorating health.
But things took a sharp turn quite quickly, and the doctor revealed to him that he had only two weeks to live. “At that time, Tani was seven-month pregnant with Ishana, and she used to struggle in staying close to me. I was pushing myself for two months… so that I could see baby’s face. Then after that, I keep pushing myself,” shared Anurag.
“I felt fine except for some headache and weakness. I even sneaked out of my hospital room for a beer with Emraan Hashmi and others. But my condition started deteriorating rapidly as no medicine was helping,” he said, further adding that his parents couldn’t bear to see him in this condition and soon stopped visiting him. “My internal organs were bleeding buckets. People kept coming to donate blood,” shared Basu.
After staying at Lilavati Hospital for 30 days, the director was shifted to Tata Hospital and he was put on a ventilator as soon as he reached there. However, at first, he wasn’t able to find a bed. “It was Sunil Dutt who got me one. I feel blessed to be a part of the film industry that I immediately got a bed and treatment. A common man would have struggled… Whoever knew me from television was doing everything they could, sending messages, asking for blood to save me. I don’t even know who all donated blood and platelets for me, whose blood is running in my veins today,” said Anurag.
