When Sunil Grover suffered a heart attack in January and had to be operated upon, it came as a shock to his fans, since the actor is known for his dedicated fitness routine. However, they breathed a sigh of relief when he returned to work with renewed vigour in no time. He did his first assignment 25 days after the operation, a stage show a month later and had started shooting for a film a month-and-half later. The actor, who recently wrapped up the shoot of the film Blackout, says, “Kaam shuru ho gaya hai and it feels nice to be back to work.”

Talking about the health scare, Sunil says, “I had tested positive for Coronavirus and had mild symptoms. Later, I started feeling uneasy and consulted my doctor. I had to take an advance check-up as they suspected some trouble in my heart, and I underwent surgery. Whatever was good for me had to be done. Mera dil wapas dhadak raha hai aur mujhe breathe karne mein aur zyada maza aa raha hai (smiles). I am feeling healthier and more energetic. I am more focused, value work much more and the luxury of going back to the set.”

The phase did change him and his perspective towards life and work. He shares, “For 15 days after the surgery, I became extremely humble and full of gratitude (laughs!). Bada hi sweet ho gaya tha main aur aisa lag raha tha ki sabki respect karu, life hai, gratitude rakho. Now, I feel the intensity has become less, but it’s still there and will remain till the end.”

Sunil further says that the incident has made him more grateful as a person. “It is normal in our industry — put makeup on, put on your outfit of the day and go on to face the camera with a smile on your face. But no one bothers about what’s going on inside,” he says, adding, “There is a parallel universe that’s running at its own pace inside us, and we mostly choose to stay blissfully ignorant of it. We tend to forget the truth. Even I did. We get caught up in our routine, work, commitments, and this life race and forget to be grateful for what we actually have. But I have realised now that gratitude is important. If you can drink water when you want, you are lucky, if you can sit up on your bed by yourself, you are lucky, if you can walk to the bathroom without anyone’s help, you are lucky. When you are lying in the ICU, and having to take the help of another person for these small little things that you take for granted every day, that is when you realise how lucky you have been all this while. Once that realisation strikes, everything else — fame, career, money — feels like a bonus! After this experience, I would like to tell everyone to take care of our health, be grateful for what we have and live with love... that’s about it.” 

But does this mean that the much-loved comedian is completely going to abandon his carefree persona? You bet not. Recently, he posted a photoshopped picture of his character Gutthi in a designer swan-style outfit and captioned it ‘French Riviera’. No wonder the picture went viral and the internet was left rolling with laughter. Ask him about it and he replies, “I have seen celebrities dressed beautifully for the festival. I appreciate the effort, but I also want to know about the film screenings at the festival. I just wanted to put out a message on that, and I did that in my own style. I don’t think about gender when I want to perform or portray something or give a message. For me, it’s just a character and in this case, it unintentionally happened to be a woman,” he answers.

For now, he is busy with films. However, it doesn’t mean that he has deserted television. “What matters is what you are doing and not the medium. If you are enjoying your work and people are appreciating it, then the platform ceases to matter. I will definitely take up a TV project if something good comes my way,” he signs off.