In 2004, Anurag Basu was diagnosed with blood cancer. While he never spoke about his health more often in the media, the filmmaker opened up about the harrowing experience in a recent interview on YouTube. Talking about battling blood cancer, Anurag revealed the doctors had told his family and friends that he had just 2 weeks to live. 

In the tell-all interview, Anurag told, "Murder was a hit and I got married. Tani (wife) was pregnant with Ishana (elder daughter). I got some blisters in my mouth one day. It was really big, like bubbles. My doctor got very scared after seeing my condition. They took my blood and reports, and I said, ‘I can’t do it now, I have to finish shooting. When I went to shoot, Mukesh Bhatt said, 'pack everything up'. You can never expect him to say that, it’s impossible. When I saw my parents’ faces in the hospital, I got a hint that something was wrong."

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He further added, "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. My platelets were decreasing. The day I got scared was when my mom and dad stopped facing me in the hospital. It was scary as there was blood and blood. My internal organs were bleeding buckets. People kept coming to donate blood."

Speaking about Mahesh Bhatt's role in his life and his reaction to the news, Anurag said, "Bhatt Sahab put his hand on my forehead and he was shaking. He’s otherwise a very calm person. Even Anupam Kher came to meet me. After seeing those two, I realised something is wrong." He shared, "My face was bloated. I was unable to catch my breath. That feeling of suffocation made me get a reality check on my bad condition. Also, the way people were panicking around me as no line of treatment was working."

Crediting Sunil Dutt for the immediate help, Anurag told, "As soon as I reached Tata Hospital, I was put on a 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 stated, "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!"

Workwise, Anurag's previous directorial was Ludo which released on Netflix in 2020.

(Source: Unfiltered By Samdish)