Have completed 4 cycles of chemotherapy, Irrfan Khan opens up about his treatment

Ever since actor Irrfan Khan left for London to treat the neuroendocrine tumour, he has refrained from discussing about it, except for a few short updates on the social media. His wife and a few friends from the film industry have, however, shared regular updates.

Khan has now broken his silence on the issue and spoke at length about his current condition in an interview with Associated Press, a news agency headquarted in New York City, US. The actor spoke about his ongoing treatment and shared why he feels thankful for whatever he has.

“I have had the fourth cycle of chemo [chemotherapy]. And I have to have six cycles and then we need to have a scan. After the third cycle, the scan was positive. But we need to see after the sixth scan. And then we’ll see where it takes me. There’s no guarantee of life with anybody,” Khan said.

He further said that his mind kept reminding him that he might have only a few days left. “My mind could always tell me to hang a kind of chip on your neck and say, 'I have this disease and I could die in a few months or a year or two.' Or I could just avoid this conversation completely and live my life the way it offers me. And it offers so much. I admit I was walking around with blinders. I couldn’t see what it offered me.”

When asked if he is reading scripts of new projects, Khan firmly said, “No, I’m completely out of reading scripts. This has become a surreal experience. My days are unpredictable. I used to think my life would be like that, but I could never practice unpredictability and spontaneity. That has happened now. I don’t plan. I go for breakfast and then I don’t have a plan. I take things as they come. That has been really helping me a lot. I don’t make plans. I’m just spontaneous. And I’m loving this experience.”

The actor added that he now realizes what was lacking in his life earlier. “There was something missing in my life. I was feeling a little manipulated by myself, by my own mind. There was a kind of disharmony in myself. It was bothering me. And I think this is what I was missing, this spontaneity. I know because we live in a world that is packed with plans, it sounds unrealistic. How could you live your life like that? But life is so mysterious and has so much to offer, we don’t really try things. And I’m trying and I’m loving it. I’m in a really fortunate state,” he added.

During a recent media interaction with us, Akarsh Khurana, director of Karwaan, starring Khan, Dulquer Salmaan and Mithila Palkar, gave some positive update on Khan's health. “He spoke to me after watching the film. He was sounding good. That’s a good sign that he is going to get better. Hussain [Dalal, writer] was in London at the screening and he met him and said that he was looking better as well,” he had said.