Mahesh Bhatt gave this advice to Emraan Hashmi after his son’s cancer diagnosis

In 2014, Emraan Hashmi’s son, Ayaan Hashmi, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of three. After a five-year-long battle, Ayaan recovered in 2019. During this time, Emraan took a significant break from his acting career to care for his son.

He recently shared advice he received from his uncle and director-producer Mahesh Bhatt that helped him balance his career during this period.

In an interview on Radio Nasha, Hashmi recalled Bhatt advising him to reassure his producers of his commitment to their projects, despite his son’s illness. He said, “When my son was diagnosed, at that time Bhatt sahab (Mahesh Bhatt), who is a realist and also my guru, told me something. He knows how people think. The industry is very realistic. They feel for you, they will help you but there is also this situation that people have put their money on you.”

Emraan continued, “So Bhatt sahab told me that you have to call every producer that you are working with and assure them that you will complete their films. This was two weeks into my son’s illness. He told me that they will be with you but they will also think of their investment, which is fair or unfair I don’t know but that’s how the world is.”

Emraan discussed the challenges his family faced during Ayaan’s illness. He spoke about the uncertainty of the future, but also highlighted their resilience.

He said, “I told them that I am going for one-and-a-half month although my son was being treated for almost seven months in Canada. I flew back. I had to actually lie to my son. I told him that I am coming back. I flew back to India, finished those films and then went to Canada. That was a tough phase.”