How Chiranjeevi's Shankar Dada MBBS helped a woman self-diagnose Type 1 diabetes. Watch

An Instagram user, Vaishnavi Varma, posted a Reel on how re-watching the Chiranjeevi-starrer Shankar Dada MBBS helped her realise her medical condition.

It has been years since the Chiranjeevi-starrer Shankar Dada MBBS, the Telugu remake of Sanjay Dutt’s hit Munna Bhai MBBS, was released in theatres. However, an Instagram user called Vaishnavi Varma claims that the film helped her recognise her medical condition when even doctors couldn’t. (Also Read: Mohan Babu opens up about social media wars between his and Chiranjeevi's fans: ‘I've never wished anyone harm’)

Sonali Bendre, Chiranjeevi and Srikanth in a still from Shankar Dada MBBS.

When Shankar Dada MBBS helped a woman with medical condition

“My beta cells ditched me in 2018. Now, I'm a girl juggling insulin and idlis,” reads Vaishnavi’s Instagram caption. In a Reel she posted detailing her struggle with Type 1 diabetes, she reveals that she was diagnosed with it, ‘not by a doctor, not in the clinic, but by Shankar Dada MBBS’. She then details that she was ‘constantly thirsty, starving, peeing oceans and losing weight’ but ‘every doctor’ she saw ‘missed it’.

Then, one ‘random day,’ she was watching Shankar Dada MBBS and realised that the symptoms described by Chiranjeevi matched her condition. When she told her parents, they first brushed it off. But when she got tested, it confirmed her suspicion that she had diabetes. She ended the Reel with, “I have a medical background, but a movie diagnosed me.” She also captioned the video, “Not your usual diagnosis story.”

Internet reacts

The Reel has been re-posted by various X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts. One fan wrote, “A woman discovered she had type 1 diabetes after watching Shankar Dada MBBS a powerful reminder of how movies can serve as unexpected sources of knowledge and awareness.” Another wrote, “That's a definition of learning through movies. Hope she recovers well. Lastly Jai bholo shankar dada ki.”

Some people were however skeptical about the story, asking why a basic test wasn’t done on her. “what kind of a doctor misses this a simple blood test will explain the symptoms,” one X user questioned. Another Instagram user wrote, “Sugar test cheyinchukunte saripothunde kadha (A sugar test would’ve confirmed it right).”

In a follow-up post, Vaishnavi clarified, “T1D always doesn’t show up clearly. I had underlying issues. Subtle signs. And it only turned terribly symptomatic in the final few months before my diagnosis in 2018. It’s not usual diagnosis —and it’s definitely not about blaming doctors. That crazy diagnosis moment was the beginning of my journey to healing, but it’s not where I live my life now.”

Shankar Dada MBBS, which also starred Sonali Bendre, Srikanth, Girish Karnad, and Paresh Rawal, was released in 2004. It tells the story of a rowdy who decides to become a doctor after his parents are humiliated by an acquaintance due to his life of crime.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.