Gulzar, who was working with Mani Ratnam when he had his heart attack, recounts how the ace director dealt with it

There was a sudden panic among the myriad friends and well-wishers of Mani Ratnam when on Tuesday he was admitted to the Apollo hospital in Chennai. Since Mani has a history of heart ailment, everyone was naturally worried.

However, it seems the news from Chennai is heartening and very encouraging, according to Gulzar . He was in Chennai working on a song for Raavana with Mani and A R Rahman when Mani’s health scare occurred. Mani was revved up and energetic as Gulzar and Rahman argued and collaborated over the perfect words for the tune.

Gulzar said, “Mani complained of uneasiness. We presumed it to be nothing more than creative anxiety. We all get restless and nervous when we are working intensely on a project. We had no clue it was a health issue.”

After a while, fidgety and restless, Mani left the recording studio alone and checked himself quietly into the Apollo hospital. That, according to Mani’s close friends, is the filmmaker’s style. He never draws attention to himself. Normally no matter how private a person, he would immediately ask someone to accompany him to a doctor if there was a health alarm. The super-reclusive Mani actually went all alone to Appolo.

Gulzar added, “Yes, Mani just left the venue of the recording and quietly got himself admitted into hospital. Thankfully, it was nothing serious. Though I wasn’t allowed to visit him in the hospital, Shaad, who is assisting Mani on Raavana, did visit him on Wednesday. Mani was just fine laughing, joking and talking nineteen to the dozen. We’re all very relieved and happy. And on to top it all, the song that we were recording when Mani had a health scare has turned out beautifully. It’s a proud moment. To my relief I’m told Mani is well enough to be out of hospital very soon.” Mani’s publicists echoed his feelings in a press release.

Sources say the film’s next schedule of Raavana on April 20 might be delayed by some time. But Mani, known to be a workaholic is expected to be back to the grueling outdoor schedule in Kerala as soon as the doctors allow him to. “He’s already talking about keeping his date with his next schedule. But that seems unlikely,” a source said. “Evidently the film has 90 days of shoot remaining and with the super busy Aishwarya Rai Bachchan being needed on most of them, dates are likely to be a problem,” the source added.

- Mumbaimirror.com