Shahid & Aligarh Writer Apurva Asrani's Paralysis Almost Cured

It has been a tough time for well-known writer Apurva Asrani (of Shahid & Aligarh fame) in the recent past. In a post which shook his well-wishers some months back, Asrani had revealed that he is quite unwell and a lot of his movements are restricted.

But that will soon be a thing of the past, at least that's what his latest FB post indicates. Check it out:



Sometime ago, Asrani  had written on his FaceBook:

"Almost two months ago, I woke up with the right side of my pace completely paralysed. Fearing a stroke, I was rushed to the hospital, and after an MRI ruled that out, my condition was diagnosed as Bells Palsy—where the facial nerve is inflamed, causing loss of muscle movement.

What causes this is still a mystery, but they gather that it could be a viral infection. Stress is a major factor and god knows I had more than my share of that in 2017.

This condition is reversible, but it could take weeks, months or even years in some cases. Mine was accompanied by severe vertigo, and I couldn’t stand without falling over.


Apurva Asrani Poses For A Selfie

After taking antivirals, steroids and doing weeks of physiotherapy and acupuncture, there was still no thaw. One senior neurologist told me to be prepared that if there was nerve damage, I might never recover from this.

Fortunately after a harrowing month, the face finally began to thaw. Everyday there is a little progress, tiny little twitches that promise to grow into something more significant tomorrow. And I wait patiently.

I am certain that in the next few months, there will be significant improvement. But I have to confess that the fear has been indescribable. I have been unable to smile. To shut the right eye. To walk without falling, to eat or even drink water without spillage.

When I walked in the street and people looked at me, there wasn’t the warmth that I was used to. My face drooped to one side, one eye wide and unblinking, and my mouth twisted. I realised how blessed I had been to be able to smile, (it really can do wonders for you.)


Apurva Asrani Suffers From Bells Palsy

And I learned so much about my ‘life’ on social media too. Every time someone saw my carefully shot picture, where I withheld the extent of my condition, they’d say ‘why aren’t you smiling? or ‘what’s that weird angle’? or ‘how strange your eye looks’?’ Many would go on about how not smiling doesn’t suit me, and I felt as though I was expected to oblige an ‘audience’ by baring my teeth.

And isn’t that the very problem with how we use social media today? We put our best face forward, post a pic that took ten rejected shots to make. Filters that took several minutes to tune. Then you see these pictures and think, so and so looks so good—all the time!

We big ourselves up, showing off our talents, our achievements, our rewards. ‘I got promoted’, ‘I bought this car’, ‘I went on that holiday’. You see these posts and think so and so is doing so well—all the time.


Apurva Asrani Gets Cured

And there’s nothing wrong with posting the good stuff, the problem is that nobody’s sharing the shit stuff. The stuff that’s making us fall apart. The bad face days, the lost jobs. The loneliness. The fears. The failures. The ugliness.

Aren’t we all those things too?

And I wonder, if we were a society that didn’t set such high standards, wouldn’t life just be easier for everyone?

My heart goes out to actors and actresses, who project a perfect life, but are crumbling on the inside—unable to show anyone the cracks. We see them happy, performing for us, laughing, dancing for us, and one day when they drop dead, we wonder how this could have happened so suddenly.

Well it didn’t. It happened over years, while we were applauding their dancing, their spirit, their joys and encouraging them to smile for us."

Not too long ago, Asrani was in the news for an alleged script credit fight over Simran with Kangana Ranaut.

Get well completely- and soon, Mr Asrani.


Image Source: facebook/apoorvasrani