Apurva Asrani: Important for celebrities to share their weaknesses

Apurva Asrani

Film writer-editor Apurva Asrani, who chose to come out with his battle with Bell's Palsy -- a kind of facial paralysis -- says celebrities should open up to the world about their weaknesses, too. Asrani made the revelation about his health condition via a social media post. Here, he talks about his struggle with the illness, how it affected his work, the support he received and the road ahead.

Excerpts from the interview:

Your revelation on your neurological condition has shocked everyone. What brought it on and how did you cope with it?
My condition is not so serious because it is reversible. But I went through a rough two months as not only is it hard to eat, drink and talk with a paralysed face, but one eye wouldn't shut and that was inconvenient. Plus, the Palsy was accompanied by severe vertigo, so that made moving around tough for a period. But the worst part about this illness is that I had never heard about it. I knew no one who had it and I didn't know what lay ahead. Timely treatment, a beautiful family and great friends have got me through the worst. Now my face is halfway normal and I am back on my feet.

That's good to hear. How much has it affected your work?
It was tough to edit because the right eye would go red, and moving images worsened the vertigo. I have been editing this exciting series for Excel Entertainment and their entire team has been incredibly supportive. Also, I have a good editing team in place, so we completed our duties inspite of this setback. To make life easier for me, the Excel folks installed a machine in my home so I could edit at my pace, taking rest every two hours. I am lucky to have employers who really care about their people.

Irrfan Khan has also written about his illness. Do you think it is more prudent to reveal one's physical condition than hide it?
I'm glad he wrote about it. Shows great courage, and my prayers are with Irrfan. We live in a superficial world, where everyone just wants to highlight their successes, their victories, their good times. This puts a lot of pressure on common people who wonder, 'How come these people have such a great life, while I must suffer!' Everyone suffers, everyone loses, and it's important for celebrities who bask in the limelight of perfection to also share their weaknesses. This is why I have great respect for people like Deepika Padukone, who talked openly and bravely about depression, but we don't have enough of such honesty. We must use our celebrity to raise awareness for more than just fairness creams, fashion brands and movie promotions.

How supportive has the industry been during these trying times?
Extremely supportive and very concerned. I called Anupam Kher because he had told me about his facial paralysis during the making of 'Om Jai Jagadish' (which Anupam directed and I edited). Turns out, it was Bell's Palsy and he gave me a great pep talk. He also referred me to his neurologist and he keeps checking on me. Like I mentioned, the good people at Excel have just babied me through this -- Zoya Akhtar and Nitya Mehra have insisted that I put health first. Another production house that I'm writing for has been very patient with deadlines. All in all, I'm very grateful to be part of a humane and compassionate industry.

When do you hope to be fully recovered and what keeps pushing towards that?
I'm back to writing the script I have been working on. I may have gained deeper insights and a slightly better understanding of human nature during this illness. By next month, I should be ready to edit again too. But I no longer place so much importance on work. I'm not desperate to prove myself anymore. I have worked hard for the last 23 years. In the last seven years itself I have edited nine films, three of which I have also written. That's a lot of work to do non-stop. Now the plan is to do select work and to do it well, without racing against an imaginary clock. There's no race to win.