When Pradeep Rawat talked about stage-4 cancer diagnosis and why he was never afraid of dying

Pradeep Rawat, famously known for playing the role of the villain in Ghajini, breathed his last on Aug 5. He was 74. The actor died after a four-year-long battle with blood cancer.

He breathed his last on Tuesday evening while he was undergoing treatment at a cancer hospital in Bhiwandi. He had received major treatment at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. Battling the disease was not easy, but for the actor, fear was something that never came to his mind.

When Pradeep Rawat spoke about his cancer diagnosis

Rawat delivered several memorable performances in Ghajini, Lagaan and Sarfarosh. And despite this major setback, the actor chose to work, which he did despite several health challenges, whether it was bypass surgery, heart blockages or a stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

During an interview with Siddharth Kanan on his podcast in 2024, Rawat talked about the time when he found out that he had cancer.

"When I finished a shoot, I found out that I had stage four cancer. What happened was that I had blood in my stool, so I got a checkup done, then found out that there is a tumour inside which is bleeding, and that it is stage four cancer. So everyone was shocked, family members started crying," the actor told Kanan.

Rawat was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, two years after he had already undergone bypass surgery in 2016 when he had 90% blockage in his heart.

"Stage four... stage four cancer, the 20 kg that I had recovered in a year or a year and a half, 20 kg lost again. Stage four cancer happened to me in 18 (2018). Bypass happened to me in 16 (2016), this happened in 18 (2018)," he said.

Rawat was battling a deadly disease. When asked if he was ever afraid of dying, the actor said instantly, "Not at all."

''Not even for a single moment did I feel that anything would happen to me. Not even for a single moment, I was giving them courage that nothing will happen, why are you crying? My wife started crying, the kid was small, right?", he shared.

But during his tough phase, what made him strong were his mother's words.

"Then I remembered my mother's words, that same thing—'asal maja Hari...' [meaning: if God/Hari is with you, then everything will be fine, don't worry]. Now she is no more, her blessings supported me a lot. My courage, honesty, everything... Mother went away teaching me a lot," he said.

Pradeep Rawat's filmography

Pradeep Ram Singh Rawat, best known for his memorable roles in films such as Ghajini and Lagaan, leaves behind a long list of memorable roles that he portrayed in a career spanning over four decades across Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Nepali and Marathi cinema.

He started working in the 1980s and first got his big break with his portrayal of Ashwatthama in B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharat. In the years that followed, he worked in movies such as Lagaan, Sarfarosh, The Hero: Love Story of a Spy, Stalin, S.S. Rajamouli’s Sye and Ghajini.