‘Bhai had already spoken to everyone’: How Salman Khan stepped in during Remo D’Souza’s heart attack, recalls wife | Bollywood News
In December 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic had slightly eased and the industry was slowly finding its footing again, choreographer-filmmaker Remo D’Souza suffered a major heart attack. The news sent shockwaves across the film fraternity. It was a fragile time — shoots had just begun resuming, shows with protocols in place were being planned, and life was cautiously inching back to normal. Remo was scheduled to shoot for Bigg Boss with Salman Khan that very day. But a series of unusual signs made him feel that something wasn’t right. When he finally reached the hospital, doctors confirmed he had suffered a heart attack. For Remo and his wife Lizelle, the moment was terrifying — but it also revealed the strength of the support system around them, including Salman Khan.
In an interview with Nayandeep Rakshit on his YouTube channel, Lizelle recalled the harrowing day. “He was lying down in the gym and then sat in the lift. It felt unusual. When I asked him, he said it felt like something was stuck in his chest. I started analysing what he had eaten for breakfast. I even put my Apple Watch on his wrist — it showed ‘inconclusive’. Then I asked him, ‘Remo, do you want to go to the hospital?’ For the first time, he said, ‘Yes.’ And we left immediately. He was supposed to shoot for Bigg Boss that day.”
Lizelle admitted she initially thought it would be a routine check-up. “I assumed they would take some blood samples and send him home. I was even on a call when the doctor came and said, ‘Ma’am, it’s a heart attack.’ I just looked at him and said, ‘What?’”
The news spread quickly. “By the time it was out, I called Salman Bhai because of the Bigg Boss shoot. Bhai called me back — he had already spoken to everyone at the hospital.”
Known to be strong and independent, Lizelle suddenly felt vulnerable.
“I am usually a very strong girl. But at that moment, I felt so small. Everyone talking around you just becomes noise because one wrong decision can change everything. We first thought it might be COVID, but it wasn’t. Bhai was constantly on call. And when I looked at Remo, he was laughing.”
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She was stunned. “I asked him, ‘What are you laughing at? They are saying you have had a heart attack!’ He just kept laughing. I think he couldn’t process it.”
Before he was wheeled into the operation theatre, she told him firmly, “You won’t let me down.” “And he said, ‘I won’t.’”
In a separate podcast with Mukesh Chhabra, Remo described what he experienced physically. “I felt uneasy after stretching, and the pain just wouldn’t go away. I started feeling nauseous, and my wife insisted we go to the hospital.” Explaining his reaction at the hospital, he said, “I was laughing because I couldn’t understand how a fitness freak like me could have a heart attack.”
He also revealed how Salman Khan stayed connected throughout the ordeal. “There’s a reason why he is so loved. He has a golden heart.”
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In September last year, Remo reflected on the life-altering episode in a heartfelt note. “I have been dancing all my life. But my heart skipped a beat when I went to the hospital five years ago because I wasn’t feeling quite well — as it turned out, I suffered a major heart attack. I was rushed into surgery, but wondered how I even managed to make it to the hospital if this was so serious.”
He credited his disciplined lifestyle for saving his life. “According to my doctor, that was possible because I have been loyal to my fitness journey. If it was anyone else, he said, they wouldn’t have made it. That hit me hard.”
Since then, Remo has become an advocate for heart health and regular movement. On World Heart Day, he shared: “Going back to this moment is never easy, but I’m grateful for a second chance. I’d like to use this important moment around World Heart Day (29 September), by @worldheartfederation, to remind all of us to look after our hearts. The easiest way to get your blood flowing is through movement.”
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What began as an ordinary day meant for a television shoot turned into a life-altering reminder — that even the fittest among us must listen when the body whispers before it screams.
