Amitabh Bachchan marks his 84th birthday on October 11, and with it comes the memory of the 1982 ‘Coolie’ set accident that nearly ended his life. As the news spread, the entire country joined in prayer for his survival. Through the long hours when doctors were fighting to stabilize him, Jaya Bachchan stayed close, and she has since spoken about how frightening it was when his condition turned critical.
How Amitabh Bachchan’s stunt went wrong in Bangalore
On July 26, 1982, Amitabh was shooting an action scene for Manmohan Desai’s ‘Coolie’ at Bangalore University, opposite Puneet Issar. The scene required him to take a staged punch, collapse onto a table, and carry on with the stunt. Reportedly, he decided to do it himself rather than rely on a stunt double. But the timing was off, and he struck the corner of the table, which caused a grave injury to his abdomen. The blow ruptured his intestine and led to internal bleeding. He was initially given treatment in Bangalore, but as his health deteriorated, he was moved to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.In an interview with Simi Garewal, Jaya opened up about those anxious days. She recalled that after surgery, complications caused Amitabh’s blood pressure to plunge to a perilous level, and the doctors were struggling to bring him back. Jaya said she was clutching the Hanuman Chalisa but found it nearly impossible to concentrate while the medical team worked frantically around him. Then, in the midst of it all, she spotted his toe twitch and cried out, “He moved, he moved.” The doctors kept going, and slowly Amitabh began to respond.Once the news of Amitabh’s condition reached the public, India united in prayer for him. Fans stood in crowds outside the hospital, observed fasts, walked barefoot to temples, and held vigils through the night. Since he was at the height of his stardom, his struggle felt like a shared national worry rather than a private one. “Amitabh Lives” became the phrase that captured the emotion and devotion surrounding his recovery.
Amitabh Bachchan on slipping into a coma-like state
During the crisis, Amitabh has described himself as slipping into a fog, close to a coma. He has also said that, for a brief moment, he was clinically dead before life returned to him. Though he went back to work in time, the accident and the long treatment that followed continued to affect his health for years.
‘Coolie’ keeps the scene of Amitabh Bachchan’s accident
‘Coolie’ hit theatres in 1983 and turned out to be a big box-office success. The sequence in which Amitabh was hurt was kept in the final cut, and the film also carried a special note pointing out the precise moment the accident happened.