Chandrachur Singh is back from the dead

He made quite an impact in Gulzar’s Maachis and the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Josh. Then suddenly, post 2001 he was nowhere to be seen. Now, after a hiatus of eight years, he’s back to doing what he loves the most – acting. So where was Chandrachur Singh all this while?

The actor suffered a water skiing accident in 2000. That accident resulted in a multiple dislocation of his shoulder joint. It was a very painful one – a slight pull and his hand used to slip out of his shoulder joint. At times, he even had to hold his hand tightly and try to push it upwards as he writhed in pain.

“A major surgery was the only option out for me,” says Chandrachur.

Speaking about the accident, he says, “I was water skiing in Goa and I missed my grip. The speed boat was moving at a high speed and the enormous force pulled my right hand out of the shoulder joint. I am lucky that my hand didn’t get torn off from my body because when I fell with a thud on the water surface, my right hand was only hanging on my muscle and skin.”

The hand was put in back to its place in the hospital but he soon realised that this is just the beginning of the trauma. “My hand became very weak and started jeopardising my daily activities. The doctor advised operation to set the joint right. I knew it will be a one-year hiatus,” he says.

But that one-year lay off meant that the actor lost out on a few good projects and this, in turn, resulted in him sitting at home without work for almost eight years because he couldn’t bag any good project. “The projects got worse and I never felt like saying yes to them,” he says.

Finally it was his brother who pulled him back under the arclights. “It’s a children’s film that I will be doing called Maruti Mera Dost. I am glad that my brother had a role for me,” says Chandrachur. He is now eager to see how his two-year-old son Sharandev reacts to his film. “I don’t know how much he will understand but I am sure he is going to enjoy it,” he signs off.