It was a shock for us: Omung Kumar on Sonali Bendre's cancer diagnosis

Sonali Bendre’s “high-grade cancer” diagnosis came as a rude shock to entire Bollywood, including director Omung Kumar, who was co-judging reality show “India’s Best Dramebaaz” alongside the actor.

The revelation led to Bendre’s exit from the show, which also has actor Vivek Oberoi in the jury. She is currently undergoing treatment in New York.

Kumar says he knew that something was off when a shoot got cancelled and Bendre’s had to travel abroad but he never thought that it would be cancer.

“Basically, we didn’t know it earlier because she was doing the show. Even she didn’t know that something this drastic had happened. One of the shoots got cancelled because she had to go abroad for a second opinion. We came to know about the second opinion but didn’t know what it was. It was like a lump in the throat feeling,” the filmmaker told PTI.

ALSO READ | Mumbai court grants interim stay on release of film ‘Mulk’

“Until it was announced in the media, we did not know about it. So, it was a shock for us,” he added.

Bendre, who was replaced by actor Huma Qureshi on the show, received love and support from her colleagues from the film fraternity.

On July 4, the actor had said in an emotional statement on Twitter that the cancer metastasised which “we frankly did not see coming.”

ALSO READ | Taapsee Pannu would love to do Mithali Raj biopic

The 43-year-old actor had said that she was taking this battle head-on, “knowing I have the strength of my family and friends behind me. There is no better way to tackle this, than to take swift and immediate action... We remain optimistic and I am determined to fight every step of the way.”