Actor Atul Parchure, 56, recently spoke on a talk show that he was diagnosed with cancer and is currently going through treatment. The All The Best (2009) actor tells us that his last cycle of chemotherapy “will end this month”. “I am close to being a cancer free person,” he boasts.

After a month-long of symptoms when Atul reached out to the doctors in December, he got to know that he had cancer. “I had the confidence that I would get out of this. I never even bothered to ask which stage of cancer I had. I never felt the danger that I would die,” he tells. In the process, Atul lost 20 Kgs due to the ailment. “I didn’t feel bad that I lost weight, I know I can gain it back,” he says.

The past eight months have been “difficult” for Atul and the family – comprising his mother, daughter and wife, whom he calls his “three pillars”. In the meantime, Atul was certain that he didn’t want the world to know about his condition. “It’s my battle, why to involve others in it? Now I can talk about it as we are almost through it,” he says. While he was battling the big C in the hospital, there were a few murmurs that did knock his door. He shares, “When I was in hospital, there were rumours that I only had six months left. But they never bothered me. People talk anything on WhatsApp university.”

The R. K. Laxman Ki Duniya actor admits that “it was easy” for him to accept the cancer. “I was mentally prepared that something was wrong with me,” he recalls. While he had a positive attitude, not having work did give him “sleepless nights”.

“Aisa nahi hai ki bure khyaal dimaag mein nahi aaye. I had so many sleepless nights, thinking about when I will resume work. On the one hand the income stopped, and the expenditure started. And the outflow of money for cancer is tremendous. Which is why it is important to have Mediclaim. I was partly saved by my Mediclaim, and partly by my savings, otherwise it would have been very difficult. Also, I did not feel dejected. My family never treated me like a patient,” he elaborates.

Atul, who was a regular in The Kapil Sharma Show, lost a few months of shoot. However, he tells us that for the last episodes of the season, he shot in the month of June while still recuperating from the disease. “Kapil knew about my condition, and he said we will welcome your comeback,” the actor adds.

Currently resting, Atul proudly boasts, “I fought the battle bravely.”