35 years ago, on July 26 1982, Amitabh Bachchan suffered his famous near-fatal accident while shooting Manmohan Desai’s Coolie in Bangalore.
He went into coma only to show signs of life on August 2, 1982 thanks to the toil of the doctors at Breach Candy Hospital in South Mumbai and the prayers of millions of his fan world over. Amitabh Bachchan thus celebrates August 2 as his second birthday. Since then, the mega star never forgets to thank all his fans on his “re-birth” day for their prayers and support. This year too,he expressed his gratitude in a tweet :
T 2503 – August 2, 1982 .. सासें बंद होने को थीं , परंतु आप सब की प्रार्थना ने मुझे जीवित रक्खा । एक ऋण जिसे मैं कभी भी उतार नहीं सकूँगा । ? pic.twitter.com/f2tYGi4JxE
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) August 1, 2017
What was the incident?
- A mistimed jump in a fight scene with co-star Puneet Issar made him hit the corner of a table, instead of landing on top of it as he was meant to during the shoot of Manmohan Desai’s Coolie in Bangalore. .
- In instant and excruciating pain, a bleeding Mr Bachchan staggered out of the set and onto the lawns of Bangalore University, where the film was being shot.
- At first, crew members thought he was faking – and then they realized he wasn’t.
- Director Manmohan Desai made immediate arrangements to fly his injured star to Mumbai. En route, Mr Bachchan was barely conscious and could not speak.
- The plane landed at Mumbai’s Santa Cruz airport where Big B’s Silsila director Yash Chopra had organized an ambulance to take him straight to Breach Candy Hospital.
- Doctors operated immediately but, even with the emergency splenectomy, Mr Bachchan remained close to death.
- The nation mourned, fans thronged temples offering to sacrifice limbs in exchange for their hero’s recovery. Mr Bachchan’s wife, Jaya, walked barefoot from Breach Candy to Siddhi Vinayak Temple everyday to pray. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited the hospital.
- There was still no sign of life – till August 2. In a last ditch measure, doctors injected adrenaline straight into Mr Bachchan’s heart. Almost immediately,
- Jaya Bachchan saw one of his toes move and exclaimed “Look, he’s alive.” August 2 became Big B’s “second birthday.”