Salman Khan

Calcutta, Sept. 4: Salman’s fans will be relieved to know his nerve surgery has gone off well, though a Bollywood-like unpredictable twist awaited the actor during operation.

“The surgery was good and I am fine now,” Salman has told STAR News. But the operation that was supposed to take 30 minutes continued for nearly eight hours.

“I was told that the surgery would take around half-an-hour, but eventually it took eight long hours,” he said.

Salman isn’t complaining. “It is good for me that the doctors took a long time,” he said.

The actor was suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, a nerve disorder also known as “the suicide disease” — it causes stabs of electric shock-like pain in parts of the face.

“The pain was very acute and I felt like somebody was giving me an electric shock. Sometimes, I couldn’t pronounce words properly because of the severe and continuous pain. I have been distracted by pain but you need to do your job. You cannot run away from your work. I decided to go for a proper check-up after it became unbearable,” said Salman, who has had an enviably successful box-office run so far this year.

His disappearance just before his latest film Bodyguard’s Id release raised questions. Salman said: “About 15-20 days ago, many people started to call me up after some news channel said that I am suffering from some heart ailment…. Actually, I didn’t want to tell anybody about my disease. My fans were very worried. In fact, I was myself worried when I saw such a huge gathering at the airport.”

The nerve disorder did not crop up overnight, the actor admitted. “The problem started when I was doing Partner (2007) but I avoided (treating) it at that time,” Salman said.

“There were two other disorders also, namely AV malfunction and aneurysm.”

AV malfunction is an abnormal connection between veins and arteries, in many cases congenital, while aneurysm is a sudden bulging of a blood vessel.

“When we came to the US, doctors suggested that gamma knife laser surgery would do the needful. The surgery involved a lot of precision. They fixed a gadget on my head and then started burning it through laser rays. There was no movement involved as a little bit of movement could be dangerous… you could burn the wrong place.”

Despite the successful surgery, the pain may not go immediately, the actor said. “The pain will remain for sometime, for six months or even up to three years or so, as the surgery will not cure the disorder instantly.”

Salman said his New Jersey doctors “have called me for another check-up after three-four months. Initially, they were thinking to do two surgeries but then they have told me that only one surgery might decrease the AV malfunction and aneurysm. I am fine and there is no need to worry.”