Shekhar Suman on losing son Aayush at 11 to rare heart disease

Shekhar Suman has spoken with rare candour about one of the most painful chapters of his life: the death of his elder son Aayush in 1995 at the age of 11. In an interview with The Lallantop, the actor and host of Shekhar Tonite walked through the final days of Aayush’s fight with endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF), a rare and terminal heart condition, and the moment his wife, Alka Suman, asked doctors to let their son go.

A family in the middle of an ordeal

When the diagnosis arrived, Shekhar Suman was in a rough patch professionally. He has said he was struggling to find work, and the family’s needs grew quickly. To keep things going, he turned to television, including Dekh Bhai Dekh, produced by Jaya Bachchan. During shoots, he kept his phone close because Aayush’s health could demand his attention at any moment.

That detail matters to fans who know Shekhar Suman mainly as a sharp, satirical host. It reframes those early TV years as something more than a career move: they were also a father trying to hold his family together while his son was dying.

‘He said he saw a golden light’

The most wrenching part of the interview is the account of Aayush’s last moments. According to Shekhar, Aayush began reciting Sanskrit shlokas — something the family did not expect from an 11-year-old. He also spoke about seeing a golden light and held his father’s hand, saying, “Papa, I don’t want to go. Please save me.”

As the suffering increased, Alka Suman reached a point many parents may understand but few can say aloud. She pleaded with the doctors to let Aayush go. Shekhar initially resisted, saying the family would fight till the end, but his wife told him that the end had already come and that Aayush should not suffer any longer. Looking back, Shekhar called her a “savvy mother who begged for her son’s death” and said she was right.

Why this stays with the audience

There is no neat showbiz framing to a story like this, and that is exactly why it has landed. It is a public figure using a late-career platform to talk about loss without turning it into a performance. For fans, it adds context to the warmth and occasional melancholy behind Shekhar Suman’s comic timing.

It also quietly raises awareness of endomyocardial fibrosis, a condition that remains rare and, in this telling, terminal. The interview does not turn Aayush into a cause; it keeps him human — a child who, in his final moments, told everyone around him, including the family’s driver, that he loved them.

• The diagnosis: Aayush had endomyocardial fibrosis, which the family learned was terminal.
• The work: Shekhar took on television, including Dekh Bhai Dekh, to support the family.
• The goodbye: Aayush spoke of a golden light, recited shlokas, and said he loved everyone present.

Shekhar Suman’s current show Shekhar Tonite premiered on May 15 and recently closed its first season, marking his return to late-night television and political satire after nearly 14 years. The grief he carries predates the comeback and, as this interview shows, still shapes how he sees the work.

Source: India Today