Amitabh Bachchan in a still from Coolie. (Image courtesy: YouTube)
Highlights
- Amitabh Bachchan suffered a near-fatal injury while filming Coolie
- Amitabh Bachchan resumed shooting the film soon after he recovered
- The film performed exceptionally well at the box office
Every die-hard Amitabh Bachchan fan is aware of the fact that August 2 is considered to be the actor's second birthday. Remember how in 1982 during the making of Manmohan Desai's Coolie, Mr Bachchan suffered a near-fatal injury? He was initially declared clinically dead but on August 2, 1982, doctors injected adrenaline into Big B's heart to revive him, which worked and the actor fully recovered overt the next few months. The 75-year-old actor, by his own admission, considers August 2 as the day he was "reborn." On Thursday, Big B thanked his fans on Twitter and wrote: "To them that have sent greetings for my 2nd birthday - August 2, a recovery from my Coolie accident, I send my gracious thanks... it shall be difficult for me to acknowledge and thank all but I do know that it was your prayers that saved my life."
After Amitabh Bachchan suffered an injury during an action sequence, which also featured Puneet Issar, he was flown to Mumbai and was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital, where he underwent several surgeries. He overcame the injury after several weeks and resumed shooting for the film in February 1983. To pray for Mr Bachchan's recovery, his wife Jaya Bachchan walked barefoot from the hospital to Siddhivinayak temple (Mumbai) every day. Coolie released in November 1983 and it emerged as a hit film.
Take a look at the aforementioned post here:
Mr Bachchan also thanked his fans for their wishes on his blog post and wrote: "There is enormous amounts of celebratory mention and wishes for the 2nd of August, the day when I recovered from my Coolie accident... to live another day , through the prayers of the millions that saved my life through their devotion to the Almighty .. a most heavy debt that I shall happily bear, and ever be in a state of never being able to repay it."
Meanwhile, this is how fans wished Big B on his second birthday, 36 years after the incident:
A huge section of the Internet used the hashtag "#Worldfansday" along with their wishes:
Amitabh Bachchan is currently shooting in Sofia, Bulgaria for Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra. The actor also has Thugs Of Hindostan, alongside Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh in the pipeline.