World Cancer Day: Mahesh Manjrekar recalls his ordeal; 'lost my bladder due to ignorance'

On World Cancer Day, filmmaker-actor Mahesh Manjrekar who was diagnosed with high-grade bladder cancer recently, reflected on his treatment journey and how he overcame it. During his interaction with Hindustan Times, Mahesh requested fans to undergo regular checkups and take any signs given by the body seriously to avoid any complications later. 

The 63-year-old actor who underwent surgery of over 11 hours to remove lymph nodes, opened up about his optimistic approach towards life during his treatment days that helped him overcome the fear. Sharing his views on the same, he told the leading daily that he had been treating for cancer for the longest time, thinking it was an age-related issue.

However, little did he know that it was the first stage of cancer. After about four years of torture, when blood passed through his urine, he got his tests done and found out that it was high-grade bladder cancer.

Mahesh Manjrekar recalls his battle with cancer 

He said the news could not shake his confidence and he was not scared of it at all. He said that he looked towards the brighter side of life while talking to patients who were completely cured of the illness.

"I knew getting scared is not going to take me anywhere. I looked at people who have been cured of cancer rather than people who have succumbed to cancer," he recalled.

The actor, who directed Antim: The Final Truth during his treatment days, emphasized how he was grateful to have detected the disease at an early stage.  Advising his fans to go for regular body checkups in order to avoid complications, Manjerekar said that after the age of 40, people should get checked regularly. He further shared that the check-ups are not to detect any particular disease, but it is a process to check on a person’s well-being.

The actor admitted that he could have saved his bladder had he done his tests early as it would have been in a very initial stage, and would have been treated differently. But because he was slightly late for the tests due to ignorance, he lost his bladder.

Towards the end of the conversation, the multi-award-winning filmmaker, who is cancer-free now, says he no longer takes his health for granted and goes for regular checkups now. 

IMAGE: Instagram/maheshmanjrekar