Arvind Swamy spoke about the time when he was bedridden for two years due to a spine injury.
Arvind Swamy became a sensation with films like Roja and Bombay, and starred in many successful films. In 2015, the actor was forced to take sabbatical from work when he met with an accident, which led to partial paralysis of his leg.
The treatment of his debilitating injury took around four-five years, and left him in pain for prolonged period of time. The actor bounced back to the screen with Mani Ratnam’s Kadal (2013).
In a recent interview with Gulf News, Arvind spoke about his spine injury that left him bedridden for two years. He said that when Mani Ratnam offered him Kadal, he took it up as a challenge.
He told the publication, “I didn’t do a film for 13 years, and I wasn’t planning to make a comeback or anything like that with Kadal. It was just an option provided by Mr. Mani Ratnam, and when you think you can’t do it, you tend to challenge yourself. My comeback was a challenge that I took up for myself.”
The ‘Dhruva’ actor said that despite Kadal getting mixed reviews, that film is more special to him than some of his hits as it gave him some kind of purpose to get back to good health.
Arvind said, “Between my cameo in Alai Payuthey (2000) and Kadal (2013), a lot of things happened. The most relevant thing was that I had a spinal injury. I was in bed for a couple of years. I had a partial paralysis of my leg, among a lot of other injuries. So when Kadal came my way, it was more a challenge internally on whether I could get back into shape, get back my mobility. I didn’t have the confidence to do it, but this film gave me some kind of purpose to get back to good health. So that way, Kadal is more special than some of my other hits. It helped me get to another stage in my life.”
Recalling how he would struggle even to get out of his bed to take a shower, he said, “I would have to sit down, like three or four times before I got from my bed to the shower. Here’s when you realise you take a lot of things for granted. When you’re in that kind of extreme, excruciating pain, or when you don’t have full control of your limbs, you get a different perspective on life altogether.”
The actor said that he bounced back in action by participating in marathons, sans any training or running coach, to prove his mental fortitude.
Arvind mentioned, “I was in bed for two years, right … It was not about training for a marathon; it was more mental. Those last three or four kilometers that you had to run were done when you reminded yourself of the time when you couldn’t get out of bed and walk ten meters.”
The ‘Thani Oruvan’ actor said that there were better ways to do that, but he did it for his satisfaction as he wanted to feel better about himself.
On the film front, Arvind Swamy’s latest release Meiyazhagan is currently running successfully in theatres. Co-starring Karthi, the film opened to positive reviews from the critics and the audience.
