Death does not wait for you to be ready, and Kalpana Lajmi certainly was not- when cruel fate snatched her away from the world of living on Sunday morning. The National-Award filmmaker wanted to live and make a film, which she was about to start shooting. The casting had been done, so contrary to the times when stars were not ready to meet her a few years back when she wanted to put a film together. So which was this film for which the actors had sign on the dotted line? And what happened to her in those last few days when her health went downhill? Who better than her close friend Soni Razdan, who honest as ever, spoke to us on Saturday evening- her voice choking with emotion?
"Well, Kalpana's kidneys had been adversely affected since a long time. She was continuously undergoing dialysis, almost 3 times a week. It was physically daunting. Worse still, she used to have certain complications as she had acute diabetes, as a consequence of which she was often admitted in the ICU. But this time, her liver started failing too. I would say that she was in a very bad shape since the past 3 months. And trust me, this time I had a feeling that something was going to..." she trailed off.
Mahesh Bhatt Taking Kalpana Lajmi's Body For The Last Rites
Gathering her composure, Soni continued, "After her liver got damaged, sepsis set in. Now, it's tough to combat sepsis. Slowly but surely, other organs started getting affected."
And then? "Well, I had spoken to her just a week ago and we were supposed to meet on Wednesday. Somehow I couldn't make it. And when I called her on Thursday, it was too late. She was already in the ICU. She had been admitted on Wednesday only."
Close Friends Soni Razdan & Kalpana Lajmi
"I last met her on Saturday. I touched her and said 'Kalpan (as Soni fondly called her)?'. She just opened her eyes and shut them again. She was semi-conscious. She was extremely low. I saw that her brother had also arrived in the city. Everything pointed out that something was very wrong this time and there was no way out, her blood pressure was dropping drastically. Doctors too, I think, had informed her relatives," and then added, "I realised that she had suffered too much."
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The Dream Unfulfilled
Kalpana passed away, her dream unfulfilled. She wanted to make a film on her love story with Bhupen Hazarika. Huma Qureshi and Adil Hussain were expected to play the leads. She had even written a book 'As I Knew Him' on her romance with Hazarika. She, however, could not attend the book launch and her good friend Mahesh Bhatt stepped in for her, "If she would have managed for about 12-18 months, the film would have been complete. She was a fighter and this time she had found a producer too to back the film."
But God had other plans! "Yes, " sighed Soni, "She was very close to not just me and Mahesh, but to my daughters Alia and Shaheen too. We will miss her terribly."
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