Bollywood’s legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan has reigned over Indian cinema over the course of several decades, having faced ample issues in between, ranging from professional failures to extreme health scares.
What many young fans may not be aware of is how the actor had once been in a near-fatal accident during the filming of Coolie, which led to him being pronounced ‘clinically dead’ for a few minutes as well, back in June 1982.
During a fight scene in the movie, Bachchan after being punched by Puneet Issar was supposed to jump on table but instead misjudged and ended up jumping at the edge which badly injured him.
The actor had to immediately be rushed to the hospital where he underwent several emergency operations and was declared ‘clinically dead’ before he was put on ventilator and was irresponsive of all treatment for a week.
Speaking about the incident later during an interview with Simi Garewal, Amitabh said: “I was in comma. I had ruptured my intestine at the accident on the set. And then there was the surgery which was conducted almost as an emergency. We went to Bombay 5 days later, the sutures ruptured, and I had to have another surgery. It was end of that surgery where I couldn't come out of anaesthesia for 12-14 hours. That's when they felt it's all over because there was hardly any pulse, BP was down to almost zero."
Speaking about his recovery, he said: “That was a devastating time for me because of the first time they put me on my feet to get me walking, my legs crumbled and I fell on the floor. I felt that I had lost my power. I had to learn to walk again. It's like teaching a child how to walk again. And the repair work after you leave the hospital because you are not the same person and you're never going to be the same person again. You have lost almost 75% of your body. Your face doesn't look the same, your hair doesn't look the same."
Bachchan’s wife Jaya had also told Garewal her reaction to the entire accident: “When I had reached the hospital where my brother-in-law said, ‘Where were you, we were searching for you? We have been looking for you?’ And I said I went home to see kids. Then he sort of took me up, he asked me to be brave and then I am going to tell you. I was like, no it's not possible, he's not going to do this.”
“I know it's not possible. I had the prayer book in my hand, hanuman chalisa. Dr Dastoor passed by and said, 'It's only your prayers that'll help.' But I couldn't read it. I couldn't see what they were doing but I could see that they were pumping his heart, they were giving him injections. And after they gave up, I saw his toe move, and I said, 'He moved, he moved.'"