Sham Kaushal, actor Vicky Kaushal’s dad and stunt director, has talked about the time when he was diagnosed with cancer in September 2003. In a recent interaction, Sham revealed how after getting back from Ladakh post filming Lakshya, he began experiencing pain in his stomach.
When he visited the Nanavati Hospital, he went an operation and had numerous complications. Sham had visited the hospital before for his appendix problem with actor Nana Patekar.
In a recent interaction with Times of India, Sham recalled, “I was unconscious. There was an infection in my stomach. The doctors had cut out a piece of the stomach and sent it for tests. It was diagnosed as cancer. I was not sure whether I would survive or not. I have not shared this with anyone. I was in the hospital for 50 days. I came back to work after that. They kept testing me for a year. But luckily, the cancer did not spread. It’s been 19 years since that incident.”
He likewise talked about individuals who stood by him at that time. Sham recalled signing a movie that was scheduled to go on floors in November and he was hospitalized in October. He said, “I thought there’s no chance of me surviving. I had even decided that I would end my life by jumping off the third floor because I couldn’t live like that. But I could not get off the bed because my stomach had been operated on. I told God, ‘Please end this. I don’t have any regrets. I came from a small village and by your grace, I lived a good life. If you want to save me, don’t make me weak.’ After that, I was at peace. The next day, I called someone from the production to return the signing amount of the film which was to go on floors in November.”
He uncovered that the movie was Black Friday and the director was Anurag Kashyap. Sham then talked about how the movie’s director, who was struggling at that time, sent him a message on the mobile saying that ‘only you will do this film and we will wait for it’. After he got back from the hospital in December, after 50 days, the first movie he did was Black Friday.
