Krishnam, my story: Akshay Krishnan

The upcoming movie Krishnam starring Akshay Krishnan unveils his real life story — of being    diagnosed with a rare heart condition and his fight through the disease, emerging victorious

Thrissur-based Akshay Krishnan was like any other boy of 18 — a college-going, handsome young man with a huge circle of friends, a fulfilling campus life and an active participant in all extracurricular activities like skits, debates, dance, etc. There was also a special someone — a love that gave his life the extra colour. Never a dull moment in Akshay’s life, he was forever active. And there was a big dream he was looking forward to after completing his college – to fly abroad to the US for higher studies. His life was all planned out till fate laughed in his face and decided to show him it was foolhardy to plan anything. Life, in its way of upturning the best laid plans, made the move. One day, during a dance contest, Akshay suffered an injury. During a checkup that followed, he was diagnosed with hernia — a condition that could be cured with an operation. But that small diagnosis was just the tip of a  iceberg — the doctors discovered graver medical issues that surprised even them.

“My entire stomach cavity and body was filled with water. The doctors were surprised because I had no discomfort or pain or uneasiness at any point of time. I was playing sports and was active till then,” Akshay recounts, saying, “Further tests led to the discovery that my liver was totally damaged. I had liver cirrhosis. The miracle was that my other parameters like blood pressure were fine. The diagnosis was bad.”

Akshay’s parents were very upset, but his businessman father decided that drastic times called for drastic measures. He consulted with medical experts in the US and brought medical teams to Kerala to diagnose and treat his son since Akshay was not in a position to travel. Tests after tests were done but nothing conclusive came out of them. He mentions, “My father spent close to '8 lakh only on the tests.” 

Akshay’s kidney, spleen, lungs and liver were damaged. Experts, including those from leading American and London hospitals, could not find the reason for this extensive organ failure. Finally, the first miracle happened. “A doctor from Thrissur suggested why not test my heart too since every other organ had been tested. That suggestion was God-sent because the root cause of all my problems was my heart — a condition that affects just one in a few lakh people.” A surgery was performed on Akshay at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi and there in the cold confines of the operation theatre, a miracle unfolded which left even the doctors dumbfounded.

If you are curious to know what the miracle was, Akshay won’t let you know it right now. He is planning to let the whole world know about it in the coming days. In perhaps a claimed first, Akshay’s miraculous story and tale of recovery will make it to the big screen through a movie to be made in four languages — Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada— which will hit the screens in April.

Titled Krishnam, the film will be directed by cinematographer/director Dinesh Baboo and produced by his father.  What is novel about the film is that Akshay himself will be playing the lead. “Who better than me to know what I went through! Whatever I went through and whatever I suffered in 2015 and 2016  is recreated and replayed by me.”

Krishnam will showcase not just Akshay’s remarkable recovery, but also feature his life — his happy-go-lucky college days, his friends and of course, his love. What Akshay keeps on repeating, almost like a mantra, is the role of his father, “He moved the earth to give me the best medical aid. My father did not let my mother know the seriousness of my disease, but managed everything on his own. Of course, when she did come to know finally, she was my constant shadow. My father is more like my friend with whom I could confide everything — including my love life. So, my film has some interesting incidents related to my love life, my beautiful college moments and the diagnosis.”

The film has Sai Kumar playing his father and Shanthi Krishna his mother. He discloses,” Incidentally Mohanlal is a family friend of my father.” The song of the film was shared by none other than  Mohanlal on his official Facebook page along with a few words of encouragement.

Through his ordeal, what got reinforced a thousand fold was Akshay’s belief in God. He reveals, “My father is a huge devote of Guruvayurappan and wherever he is in the world, on the first of every month, he visits the Guruvayur temple. This has been a happening for the past 40 years. I have seen him flying in from Russia or America on the 1st, visiting the temple and then flying back.”

“The film is not a work of fiction; it is a miracle that happened to me and most of the events shown are real incidents. Cinematic license is just 10 per cent and the film has beautiful songs sung by leading Malayalam singers,” he says. Krishnam will be  released all over the world.

And yes, Akshay’s dream is still burning bright. He hopes to fly to the US for his higher studies soon.