Veteran filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee, admitted to Bandra’s Lilavati Hospital over the weekend, continues to be on life support. “Buju-buju (as he is fondly called by his grandchildren) is showing signs of improvement,” reveals his granddaughter, model Tupur Chatterjee. Tupur and twin sister Tapur’s mother Surasree is the third of Mukherjee’s five children.  

Mukherjee was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit on June 5 with renal failure and lung infection. He is undergoing dialysis and is on a ventilator. Informs Tupur, “He can’t speak so when he wants something, he writes it on a pad; but his mental faculties are still very sharp.” She goes on to add that he recognises the people who come to meet him. “Farooq Sheikh sent a beautiful letter – he smiled when I read it out to him.”

Dharmendra, Anupam Kher, Shobha Khote, Deepti Naval and Avtar Gill have visited the director since he was admitted. “It would be unfair to compare the kind of attention Amitabh Bachchan or John Abraham got when they were admitted. Most of the people from my grandfather’s generation are no more,” says Tupur, when asked if the family felt that Bollywood has ignored him.

Mukherjee’s entire family — daughters Jaysree, Rajsree, Surasree and son Pratip — are currently in the city to be with him in his hour of need. His youngest Sandip is no more. “The mood in the family is one of mixed emotions and total confusion. No one expected this to happen; it’s all very sudden,” Tupur says.   

A Dadashaeb Phalke and a Padma Vibhushan awardee, Mukherjee is best known for his films that evoked a range of emotions in the viewer. ‘Anand’, ‘Abhimaan’, ‘Chupke Chupke’ and ‘Khubsoorat’ are among his memorable films.

salil@dnaindia.net