Late night. Film set. Everyone exhausted. Vijay Varma sitting outside reading a book between takes. Then he hears something. Something wrong.
Fatima Sana Shaikh, his co-star on Gustaakh Ishq, is having a seizure. Right there. On set. The thing she’d warned him about hours earlier. The thing he thought maybe she was exaggerating about. The medical emergency that makes you realize how fragile life is and how quickly everything can change.
Vijay’s first instinct? Panic. Helplessness. That gut wrenching feeling when someone you care about is in danger and you don’t know what to do. But then muscle memory kicked in. The instructions Fatima had given him and the crew earlier that day. The guidelines she’d provided knowing this might happen. The protocol she’d established because this is her reality.
He rushed to her side. Cleared a bed on the shoot. Had crew members step back to give her space and air. Put his hand on her head. Sat with her. Waited. Held vigil while the seizure passed. Then carefully transported her to the hotel where she woke up with zero memory of what had just happened.
“I felt so vulnerable and helpless,” Vijay admitted to Mashable India. “But I also felt so protective of her. I think I found a new kind of bond with her because she went through a very vulnerable and helpless stage with me.”
That bond? It’s what makes Gustaakh Ishq, releasing November 28, more than just another Bollywood romance. It’s two actors who’ve seen each other at their most human, filming a love story about vulnerability and connection while actually living it behind the scenes.
Share this with everyone who thinks celebrities don’t deal with real problems because Fatima’s story is as real as it gets.
The Warning Nobody Thought They’d Actually Need
Here’s what happened earlier that day. Fatima pulled Vijay and a few key crew members aside during a break. She needed to tell them something important. Something uncomfortable. Something most people would avoid discussing.
“When we were shooting, I think she got to know that something is happening to her,” Vijay recalled. “So she had warned me and 2 to 3 team members beforehand, and she had given us guidelines of what to do when she gets a seizure.”
Vijay’s initial reaction was typical: “I thought is she saying this to scare us?”
Most people react that way. Epilepsy feels like something that happens to other people. Something you see in medical dramas but never encounter in real life. When someone casually mentions they might have a seizure, the brain doesn’t quite process that as immediate danger requiring actual preparation.
But Fatima’s learned through years of living with epilepsy that preparation saves lives. She knows her triggers. She recognizes warning signs her body sends before an episode. And crucially, she’s overcome the shame and stigma around her condition enough to proactively warn people what might happen and how to help.
That preparation is what made the difference when hours later, the seizure actually happened. Without those instructions, the crew would’ve panicked. Called an ambulance unnecessarily. Done things that make seizures worse like trying to restrain her or put something in her mouth.
Instead, they followed her protocol. Space. Air. Safety. Comfort. Presence. Wait it out. Then careful transportation once the acute phase passed.
Don’t miss how Fatima’s decade long epilepsy journey led to this moment next.
The Dangal Diagnosis That Changed Everything
Fatima Sana Shaikh was diagnosed with epilepsy during the shoot of Dangal in 2016. She was training for her breakout role as one of the Phogat sisters when she had her first major episode. She collapsed. Woke up in a hospital. And learned about a neurological condition she’d spend the next decade learning to live with.
Her initial reaction? Denial. Complete, absolute denial.
“At first, I was in denial and wasn’t willing to accept that I had a neurological disorder, so I didn’t take any medication,” Fatima told Filmfare. That denial lasted five years. Five years of refusing to acknowledge reality. Five years of inconsistent medication leading to more frequent seizures. Five years of fighting against a condition that doesn’t care whether you accept it or not.
Why the denial? Because epilepsy carries devastating stigma in India and globally. “Epilepsy carries a lot of stigma,” Fatima explained. “People think you’re either on drugs, seeking attention, or possessed and should be avoided.”
Think about that. Possessed. In 2025, people still associate neurological conditions with demonic possession. That’s the level of ignorance Fatima faced after her diagnosis. So she hid it. She didn’t take medicine. She pretended everything was fine while having seizures once or twice a week.
“I thought I didn’t need them to live a normal life,” she said about medication. But seizures don’t care what you think you need. They happen regardless. And the more inconsistent the medication, the more frequent the episodes.
Fatima stopped attending events and screenings because flashing lights trigger epileptic seizures. Paparazzi cameras. Stage lighting. Even certain film projection setups. All potential triggers that could cause an episode in front of hundreds of people.
Eventually, she did something brave. She told the paparazzi about her condition. And surprisingly, they were incredible. “They made a point not to use flash photography when I was around,” she shared. The people society often vilifies as intrusive showed more consideration than some colleagues who “wouldn’t understand.”
The Plane Incident That Almost Killed Her
The worst seizure Fatima experienced happened mid flight from Dubai to the USA. Multiple seizures. One after another. She was rushed to the airport hospital immediately upon landing but the episodes wouldn’t stop.
Doctors gave her medication. It didn’t work. They increased the dose. Still nothing. Finally, they administered a heavy dose of a different drug. Instead of stopping the seizures, it triggered complications because epilepsy medication can’t be switched suddenly. “You have to wean off one before starting another,” Fatima explained. The sudden switch devastated her body and mind.
That terrifying experience taught her two crucial lessons. First, travel with detailed medical information and emergency protocols. Second, always warn people around you about your condition before crises happen.
Which is exactly what she did on the Gustaakh Ishq set. She learned from that nightmare plane incident that preparation saves lives. So she warned Vijay and the crew. She provided guidelines. She created a safety net before needing it.
And when the seizure happened during that late night shoot, that preparation made all the difference.
What Actually Happens During A Seizure
Let’s talk about what Vijay witnessed because understanding epilepsy matters for everyone.
“When you get a proper seizure, at that time, you don’t know what is happening,” Fatima explained. “It’s a proper wipe out. Many times, even when you are getting the seizure, many people think iska toh natak hai (she’s being dramatic). Because there is no awareness about it.”
During a seizure, abnormal electrical activity floods the brain. Think of it like a power surge frying circuits. The person loses consciousness. Their body may convulse or stiffen. They might make sounds or appear awake while being completely unconscious. And crucially, they have zero memory of the episode afterward.
When Fatima reached her hotel after the on set seizure, she was awake. But she couldn’t recall what happened. Her brain had essentially rebooted without saving recent files. The experience was erased, leaving only the physical exhaustion and confusion that follows.
For Vijay and the crew watching, it was terrifying. For Fatima, it was a blank spot in time. She knows a seizure happened only because people told her. She has no personal memory of those minutes when her brain short circuited.
That disconnect between the observer’s trauma and the patient’s blank memory is part of what makes epilepsy so difficult. Fatima knows intellectually that she had a seizure. But experientially, those moments simply don’t exist for her.
Share this with your first aid trained friend because epilepsy awareness literally saves lives.
How Vijay’s Response Created An Unbreakable Bond
“Around pack up time during late night, I was sitting outside and reading a book between takes and I heard something, and by that time, she had gotten a seizure,” Vijay recounted. The specificity of that memory, the late night timing, the book he was reading, suggests how deeply the experience imprinted on him.
His immediate response was recalling Fatima’s instructions. “I recalled all the things that she had told me. We emptied out a bed on the shoot and made her lie down and asked people to give her space. I just kept my hand on her head and sat near her. We waited for the seizure to pass. Then we took her to the hotel in the car.”
That hand on her head. That simple gesture of presence and protection. That’s what transformed their professional relationship into genuine friendship.
“I felt so protective of her, and I think I found a new kind of a bond with her because she went through a very vulnerable and helpless stage with me, and maybe that’s why we have this kind of a friendship,” Vijay said.
Vulnerability creates intimacy. Not romantic necessarily, but human. When someone witnesses you at your most defenseless and responds with compassion rather than fear or judgment, something shifts. A wall comes down. Trust forms. Connection deepens.
For Fatima, who’s spent years managing stigma around her condition, having a co-star respond with pure protective instinct rather than revulsion or panic must have been profound. For Vijay, witnessing someone’s medical crisis and successfully helping rather than freezing created confidence and care.
That bond translates onscreen in Gustaakh Ishq. “If we talk about our chemistry, what is happening on the screen is so unsaid,” Vijay explained. “It’s an old world, old school, old romance, where expression is less and feeling is more.”
Expression is less. Feeling is more. That perfectly describes their real life dynamic during the seizure. Vijay didn’t need to say much. He just needed to be present. And that presence communicated everything.
Why Fatima Finally Went Public About Her Epilepsy
Fatima first revealed her epilepsy publicly in 2022 during an Instagram AMA session. After five years of denial and another year of accepting it privately, she decided the stigma needed confronting.
“I was diagnosed when I was training for Dangal. I got an episode and woke up straight at the hospital. Tab pata chala ki epilepsy naam ki koi cheez hoti hai (Then I learned about a disease called epilepsy). Was in denial at first (for five years). And now, I have learned to embrace it, and work and live around it,” she wrote.
That public disclosure changed everything. Suddenly, Fatima became the face of epilepsy awareness in Bollywood. Young people with epilepsy had representation. Parents of epileptic children saw success was possible. The medical community had a high profile advocate.
But it also meant more vulnerability. Admitting you have a chronic illness that can cause public episodes requires courage most people don’t possess. Every film shoot became a calculated risk. Every public appearance involved contingency planning. Every flashing camera was a potential trigger.
“There are days when I simply can’t shoot,” Fatima admitted. “Sometimes my episodes cause shoots to be canceled, and there are days when my migraines are so severe I’m unable to work.”
That honesty is revolutionary in an industry that demands perfection and conceals weakness. Bollywood celebrities typically hide illnesses, injuries, and struggles to maintain their superhuman image. Fatima’s refusal to do that makes her more relatable, more human, and more important than any role she’s played.
The Film That Brought Them Together
Gustaakh Ishq, releasing November 28, marks fashion designer Manish Malhotra’s debut as a film producer under his Stage5 Production banner. Directed by Vibhu Puri, it’s an old school romance set in the bylanes of Old Delhi and fading kothis of Punjab.
The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Varma, Fatima Sana Shaikh, and Sharib Hashmi in pivotal roles. It’s described as a story of passion and unspoken desire, where architecture holds memory and music carries longing.
“It’s an old world, old school, old romance, where expression is less and feeling is more,” Vijay explained. That restrained emotional style perfectly suits what happened between him and Fatima off camera. Their real friendship, forged through vulnerability and protection, informs the onscreen chemistry.
The film premieres at the 56th International Film Festival of India in Goa on November 24 before its theatrical release four days later. For Manish Malhotra, transitioning from fashion design to film production represents a major career evolution. For Vijay and Fatima, it represents something more personal: a project forever linked to the night they became real friends.
What This Story Teaches About Chronic Illness
Fatima’s openness about epilepsy and Vijay’s protective response teach crucial lessons about living with chronic illness.
First, preparation matters. Fatima’s advance warning and guidelines made the difference between panic and effective help. People with chronic conditions who educate those around them create safety nets that save lives.
Second, vulnerability creates connection. Vijay and Fatima’s bond formed because she let him see her helpless and he responded with compassion. That mutual vulnerability is rare and precious.
Third, stigma kills. Fatima’s five years of denial, refusing medication and pretending everything was fine, made her condition worse. Shame around illness prevents treatment and worsens outcomes.
Fourth, representation matters. By going public with her epilepsy, Fatima gave visibility to a condition affecting 50 million people worldwide. Young epileptics now see someone succeeding in a demanding career while managing seizures.
Finally, community support changes everything. From the paparazzi who stopped using flash photography to Vijay sitting with his hand on her head, the people around Fatima adapted to her needs. That accommodation is how society should function for everyone with chronic conditions.
The Bigger Conversation About Health In Bollywood
Fatima isn’t the only Bollywood celebrity dealing with chronic illness, but she’s among the few discussing it publicly. Most stars hide medical issues fearing it will affect their careers. Diabetes, thyroid conditions, mental health struggles, all hidden behind perfect Instagram facades.
That silence perpetuates stigma. It makes audiences believe celebrities are superhuman. It prevents important conversations about health, accommodation, and living fully despite chronic conditions.
Fatima’s openness about epilepsy and eating disorders (she’s also discussed battling bulimia) represents a shift toward honesty. Deepika Padukone talking about depression. Alia Bhatt discussing anxiety. These admissions humanize celebrities while helping fans struggling with similar issues.
The entertainment industry needs more of this vulnerability. Not trauma dumping or attention seeking, but honest acknowledgment that success and illness coexist. That you can be beautiful, talented, and working while also managing conditions that require daily medication and lifestyle adjustments.
Drop a comment: Do you know someone with epilepsy? How did this story change your understanding of chronic illness? Share this with everyone because Fatima’s courage deserves recognition beyond film reviews.
Follow for more stories about the humans behind celebrity images. Because vulnerability is strength and Vijay and Fatima just proved that friendship forged through crisis outlasts any red carpet moment.
When Vijay Varma kept his hand on Fatima Sana Shaikh’s head during her seizure, he didn’t just follow first aid guidelines. He showed up fully human for another human in crisis. That’s not just good co-star behavior. That’s the foundation of friendship, empathy, and the kind of love that makes old school romances like Gustaakh Ishq actually believable. Because the actors understand what it means to truly see someone at their most vulnerable and choose protection over panic.
