Anurag Basu Recalls His Battle With Blood Cancer; 'I Don't Even Know Who All Donated Blood & Platelets For Me'

Filmmaker Anurag Basu was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, a type of blood cancer in 2004. In fact, he was even told by the doctors that he had about two weeks to live. During this period, his wife Taani was expecting their child. However, Basu emerged victorious over cancer.

In the latest episode of Unfiltered By Samdish, Anurag Basu opened up on surviving the scariest phase of his life. The filmmaker revealed that he was diagnosed with blood cancer when he was working on his next after directing Saaya and Murder.

Basu said that it all began with him getting big blisters in his mouth. However, he didn't pay heed to the doctor's advice of getting admitted for medical tests and chose to go back to the set of the film that he was working on back then.

The Jagga Jasoos director revealed, "By evening Mukesh Bhatt asked me to pack up the shoot. You can never expect him to say that. It's impossible. When I saw my parents' face in hospital, I got a hint that something was wrong."

He was admitted to Lilavati Hospital. The director said that he felt fine except for some headache and weakness, and even sneaked out of his hospital room for a beer with Emraan Hashmi and others.

But his condition soon started deteriorating rapidly as no medicine was helping. Basu said that his parents stopped meeting him because they couldn't face him. "My internal organs were bleeding buckets. People kept coming to donate blood," the Ludo director shared in the podcast.

He even recalled Mahesh Bhatt's reaction after seeing him in such a state. Basu said, "Bhatt sir came to meet me. He put his hand on my forehead and he was shaking. He's otherwise a very calm person. Even Anupam Kher came to meet me. Seeing both of them, I realised something is not right."

He continued, "My face was bloated. I was unable to catch my breath. That feeling of suffocation made me get a reality check of my bad condition. Also the way people were panicking around me as no line of treatment was working."

The Barfi! director said that his father ended getting blood pressure and sugar during that stressful period. Basu's wife Taani wasn't initially informed about his condition, and she learnt about it from news channels.

Anurag said that his heallth condition began to improve only after he was shifted to Tata Memorial Hospital where he received new medicines.

The director said, "As soon as I reached Tata Hospital, I was put on ventilator. In fact I wasn't able to get a bed there. 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."

He continued, "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!"

The actor said that he underwent chemotherapy for some time. However, he soon returned back to television as he needed money for his medical treatment. Basu recalled shooting for television shows wearing a mask and added that he began working on Kangana Ranaut-Emraan Hashmi starrer Gangster while he was still undergoing chemotherapy for his ailment.

Anurag said that he got the courage to tackle cancer from his family, and with proper medication, he defeated it like a warrior.