Hyderabad, October 26: After losing two aunts to the disease, Namrata Singh Gujral made sure to get mammograms regularly, and unfortunately in June 2008 she too was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Furious with the toll that cancer takes around the world, and terrified for herself and her nine-year-old daughter, Gujral decided to turn her harrowing journey into a positive outcome and launched the film 1 a Minute while going through her third chemotherapy treatment.
Through 1 a Minute, she hopes to shed light on the seriousness and urgency of the disease. She also wants to support her sisters (and brothers) who very quickly understand why the fight is called “battling” cancer and why one qualifies as a survivor in the aftermath. She wants to be able to provide families and friends with a glimpse of their loved ones’ real journey.
Namrata says, “As I lay down between directing takes, I felt compelled to tell it as it is. I did not want to put lipstick on cancer. Cancer is ugly and will remain so.”
The film, by contrast, is hopeful, positive and uplifting, and stars internationally celebrated survivors including Olivia Newton-John, Jaclyn Smith and Melissa Etheridge, as well as interviews with top Western oncologist Dr Dennis Slamon and Eastern medicine practitioner Dr Deepak Chopra. Narrated by Kelly McGillis, the global docudrama “1 a Minute is an unprecedented push to raise funds for a cure, promote awareness and support survivors of women’s cancers.
Biggest compliments
I got was from a woman, who is a survivor nine years out. She came in, watched the movie, and said to me, “I wish I had this when I was diagnosed. It’s like having a support group in my living room.”
I want people to understand there’s help, there’s support out there. When people are going through something traumatic it’s very natural to think that you’ve
been picked on, that somehow you’ve gotten the raw deal in life. That’s just natural. I did too.
The movie starts by saying nobody has a charmed life. We all have our axes to grind. We all get our fair share in this world. Whether you are a star or a celebrity or not, it doesn’t matter. We all have our share of bad luck and good luck
–Agencies