Mahabharat: Puneet Issar Reveals He Lost 7 To 8 Films After Accidentally Injuring Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan's near-fatal accident on the sets of Coolie is known to all. On July 26, 1982, the megastar was badly injured while filming a fight scene with co-star Puneet Issar. Amitabh was immediately rushed to a Mumbai hospital where he went into a coma-like situation. The actor, by his own admission, was even declared 'clinically dead' for a few minutes before being put on the ventilator. After multiple surgeries and by the grace of his fans' prayers, he finally moved a muscle on August 2, 1982, and the entire nation breathed a sigh of relief.

Puneet Issar aka Duryodhan of Mahabharat recently went down memory lane during an episode of a singing reality show and revealed that he lost seven to eight films after the infamous accident, and how the Bollywood icon had greeted him with kindness and warmth despite the incident.

Puneeth said, "My encounter with Mr Amitabh Bachchan was rather unfortunate. I remember while shooting for Coolie, we had to perform this particular action sequence. The timing during the final take did not match and I accidentally injured Mr. Bachchan. But he was so kind. He knew I was worried and he greeted me with so much warmth when I went to see him at the hospital. He put his arm around my shoulder and walked me till the gate to show everyone that there was no bad blood between us. My wife even donated blood to him.”

He went on to add, "I lost about seven to eight films after this incident until Mahabharat came my way. Initially, I was called in for the role of Bhim but I was keen to portray Duryodhan. I recited Duryodhan's dialogue and bagged the role. The rest is history."