Kalpana Lajmi battling cancer; Rohit Shetty, Aamir Khan extend financial help

Celebrated filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi was hospitalized in Mumbai on 6 November but her health condition is improving, a hospital official said. [caption id=“attachment_4196839” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Kalpana Lajmi. Image from Twitter/@luvClebs[/caption] The maker of Rudali, who has been suffering from illness for quite some time, rushed to the Kokilaben Hospital on Monday and admitted to ICU. However, the hospital’s Executive Director Ram Narain told IANS that she was “stable”. “She is not on the ventilator and her health condition is improving,” he said. Lajmi also released a statement from the hospital. “Today morning my heart rate dropped and I felt uneasy. I am a kidney patient and both my kidneys are not functioning properly,” Kalpana told PTI. They all have helped me, from Aamir Khan, Indian Film & Television Directors Association, Rohit Shetty, Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt, Soni Razdan, Neena Gupta. All of them have come forward and helped me during my worst. It is a financially draining and a continous lifelong process. “I am thankful to my film fraternity for standing by me in this phase. Specially my mother, my brother and Shyam Benegal for their constant support,” she added. “I am thankful to my film fraternity for standing by me in this phase. Specially my mother, my brother and Shyam Benegal for their constant support,” she added. “Yesterday was my partners (Bhupen Hazarika) death anniversary so I went all the way to Vashi (Navi Mumbai) to attend the program. That must have taken a toll on me. So today when I woke up, I felt very weak. I was then taken to the ICU,” she added. Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit said that the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) has been supporting her treatment. “IFTDA has always stood for the industry members and we help out in whichever way we can. I spoke to Aamir Khan and Rohit Shetty, who readily helped out,” he said. Starting her career as an assistant director with the legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who is also her relative, Lajmi’s work came to everyone’s notice with Rudali featuring Dimple Kapadia, that won three National Awards. She also produced and directed films like Darmiyaan: In Between, Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence, and Chingaari among other women-centric films. Having worked with actresses like Tabu, Kirron Kher, Raveena Tandon, Sushmita Sen among others, Lajmi was also the business partner of Assamese singer, the late Bhupen Hazarika.