“They wanted to amputate my leg.” Chiyaan Vikram shared his journey from surviving a deadly accident to making a mark in the South Indian film industry.
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00:00Ajit was what put me on the map, Indian map.
00:02Roast means beauty.
00:03I had 23 surgeries, I was in bed, I had an infection,
00:07and then one year on crutches, I didn't walk for four years.
00:10In my mind, I wanted to be an actor so badly.
00:13I said, no, I will walk. I won't just walk, I'll run.
00:24Are you comfortable talking about the night of the accident?
00:27Yeah, sure.
00:28Can you explain in detail what happened exactly and
00:32what you remember from your eyes?
00:35See, we were going on the bike and the funny thing was,
00:39I was not supposed to be on the bike.
00:40I was supposed to be in the car.
00:41You know, we don't have bikes and cars.
00:43And I mean, very few guys had.
00:45So there was this boy who was supposed to go on the bike.
00:49And then he said, there was a girl he was in love with
00:52and she was going in the car.
00:53So he said, I'll go in the car, you go on the bike.
00:54So I got on the bike.
00:55And what happened is, he was just,
00:57because the middle of the night,
00:58he took his legs and put it on the crash guard.
01:00And he was doing that.
01:01And I, there was a shoe tied up and I just like,
01:04I was doing something and I looked up
01:05and there was a lorry almost on us,
01:06you know, a truck with buffalos.
01:09And this guy had his legs on the crash guard.
01:11So he couldn't brake.
01:13So what he did, very playfully accelerated
01:15and tried going past and the lorry hit me and it broke.
01:18My thighs, like it broke in two places.
01:20It broke here also.
01:21And I suddenly looked down and, am I being too graphic?
01:24No, please, please.
01:24I looked down and I see two knees and there's no pain.
01:27I just think, then people came running
01:29and they tried to lift my leg.
01:30And that's when it hit me.
01:31And then they took me to hospital.
01:33And then I remembered they were taking me in the lift
01:35and there was this very dirty compound.
01:38I still remember he was wearing khaki shorts
01:40and khaki shirt, which was filthy.
01:42One very scruffy guy was just standing there very sullen
01:45and he was going down the lift.
01:46And I was alone in the lift with him.
01:48And I actually asked him, Anna, can I hold your hand?
01:51Because I was scared, you know?
01:53And it was like, it was like a very weird moment
01:56because I felt I needed some kind of comfort.
01:59I needed some support.
02:00And I felt so lost.
02:02It was like, it was that kind of a night.
02:05It was very scary.
02:06They wanted to amputate my leg.
02:07It was that bad because I just had, like,
02:11if I'd had a cut, maybe the blood would have come out
02:13because there's no cut.
02:14My bones had broken.
02:16So there was a hematoma inside.
02:17My big leg became this thick and the pulse stopped.
02:19So there's no pulse.
02:21So you'll get gangrene.
02:22I still have gangrene.
02:23So they didn't know what to do in the government hospital.
02:25They said, let's amputate his leg or he's going to die.
02:27But my mother was there and she said, no.
02:29Then my mother said, we took me to a private hospital
02:31and then they did some magic.
02:33They released the blood and I got my pulse back.
02:35I still had gangrene.
02:36And I was in bed for three years.
02:39Three years.
02:39I had 23 surgeries.
02:40I was in bed.
02:41I had an infection.
02:43And then one year on crutches.
02:45I didn't walk for four years.
02:46And the doctor said, you can't walk.
02:48You won't walk anymore.
02:50But in my mind, I wanted to be an actor so badly.
02:52I said, no, I will walk.
02:53I wouldn't just walk.
02:54I'll run.
02:55So I used to go swimming.
02:56I'll have my crutches and I worked and worked at it.
02:59How do you perceive that reality, sir?
03:02That, you know, that's how, at that point, Pan India,
03:07so-called Pan India got to know you.
03:09Actually, I was very popular in the South.
03:11Nobody knew me in Bombay.
03:12And then I was going with this friend.
03:14We were shopping something and then one girl looked at me
03:16and I said, I think he's recognized me.
03:18She said, hey, come on, you're Vikram.
03:19I said, yeah, but nobody knows me here.
03:21And then he came up to me and he said, are you that guy?
03:24And I was like, wow, one guy recognized me in Bombay.
03:27You know, Mumbai.
03:27I mean, that time it was Bombay.
03:29For an actor, it's the wider audience.
03:31And, you know, so Aparajit did that to me.
03:34Like Pithamagan was South India,
03:37but Aparajit was what put me on the map, Indian map.