David Dhawan on his health condition, “All is well now, touchwood”

Ever since news of David Dhawan’s health problems surfaced, there have been conflicting reports on exactly what ails the super-prolific filmmaker. David has finally cleared the air stating, “I am fine now. Yes, I did go through an angioplasty and not a heart surgery a few weeks ago. But all is well now, touchwood.”

For some months now, David had been unwell. His health condition was causing the family a huge amount of worry. Health scares are not new to David Dhawan. In December 2012, he had a close brush with mortality when he collapsed at Bunty Walia’s wedding reception. David has only filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia to thank for being alive. It was Lakhia who rushed to David’s assistance when the veteran director fell violently ill at the reception.

Apoorva Lakhia and Kunal Kohli actually came forward to save David from a potentially fatal situation. In fact, David’s wife didn’t even know who Lakhia was. It was Lakhia who picked up David, put him in his car, then rushed across a one-way street on his feet to let the driver cruise speedily the wrong way to reach the Lilavati Hospital fast.

Speaking to this writer some weeks after the 2012 incident David Dhawan told, “Apoorva Lakhia was wonderful. My family and I can’t thank him enough for what he did. My elder son Rohit was in Bali with his wife and my younger son Varun was in Bangkok shooting an ad with Alia Bhatt. They both wanted to rush back home immediately. I told them to relax. I was taken care of well enough.”

Reliving the nightmare David recounted, “I had gone to Bunty Walia’s party after taking my insulin injection for my diabetic condition. But I forgot to take the mandatory sweet food article thereafter. Four-five hours had passed since the insulin intake and my stomach was empty. Suddenly at the party I started shivering and I broke out into sweat. I simply freaked out. My wife who was not with me arrived in ten minutes. But in the meanwhile I was fed some chocolate. By the time I was put in the car I was already better. At Lilavati, all the doctors are known to us. So the tests were done immediately. I am all clear now, back home resting, watching a cricket match on television.”

David admitted it was a close shave for him. “Anything could have happened. If it wasn’t for people like Apoorva Lakhia and Kunal Kohli, who came to my rescue. I really need to look after myself. I don’t want to keep spoiling my family’s holidays. And I am sorry I spoilt Bunty Walia’s party.”

It was after the incident that Varun took charge of his father’s physical fitness, controlling his diet and making sure David goes for his morning walks.

That was in 2012. Hopefully this time David will remain well and fine.

Also Read: David Dhawan opens up on the success of Aankhen; says, “I had tears in my eyes”