Yesterday, director Rajkumar Santoshi, had a health scare when he had to be rushed to Nanavati Hospital after complaining of heart-related problems. Now news emerges that his condition is stable. Apparently, the doctors have performed an angioplasty on the writer-director, which has led to an improvement in his condition.
Incidentally, Santoshi had earlier been spotted condoling the Kapoor family on the passing away of Sridevi. Hours after the funeral and cremation of the screen legend Sridevi, the filmmaker had to be admitted to hospital due to cardiac issues.
After the news of his cardiac issues started flooding the internet, the filmmaker felt the need to clarify that there was no such problem. As per his PR, "He was in Nanavati for a routine check-up. I have spoken to him. He has requested that this story of him being unwell with cardiac issues be clarified. "
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Santoshi is well-known for directing mainstream classics like Ghayal, Damini, Andaz Apna Apna, China Gate, Ghatak, Pukar and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. However, he has not been active post his 2013 film, Phata Poster Nikla Hero starring Shahid Kapoor and Ileana D’Cruz.
While his film Pukar won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, he had also bagged the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi for The Legend of Bhagat Singh.
The filmmaker has been touted to be preparing to make a comeback with an upcoming film to be produced by Aanand L. Rai. Buzz goes that Rai had the outline of a human drama in mind and he couldn't think of anyone better than Santoshi to direct it. He thought it was the perfect story for Santoshi to handle, as its storyline echoed the theme of Santoshi’s earlier films like Damini and Ghayal. Apparently, Aanand had given Santoshi a call and after their meeting, the filmmaker had come on board.
Incidentally, Rajkumar Santoshi had also been in the news for his pet project – an ambitious period-drama film titled Battle of Saragarhi. However, this project failed to kick off due to budget constraints.
Currently, Akshay Kumar’s upcoming Kesari, Randeep Hooda’s Battle of Saragarhi, and television star Mohit Raina’s new TV show, ‘21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897’ are all being made around the legendary battle of Saragarhi of 1897. This historic battle during the Raj had seen 21 Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army fighting 10,000 Afghans at Saragarhi, in the North-West Frontier Province (now in Pakistan).
