Raj Kapoor, the legendary filmmaker known for his infectious zest for life, never let circumstances dampen his spirit. Even in serious situations, like visiting someone recovering from a near-death experience, he carried his signature passion for life with him, ensuring that those around him enjoyed the best of food and drink. This lively aspect of Raj Kapoor’s personality was evident when he visited Amitabh Bachchan in the hospital after the latter suffered a severe accident on the sets of Coolie.
Amitabh Bachchan was critically injured while filming a stunt for Manmohan Desai’s Coolie, a film that also featured Raj Kapoor’s son, Rishi Kapoor, who was on set at the time of the incident. After the accident, Bachchan was airlifted to Mumbai from Bangalore, as the entire nation prayed for his recovery. While he was still in the ICU at Breach Candy Hospital, Raj Kapoor paid him a visit. In Ritu Nanda’s book Raj Kapoor – The One and Only Showman, Amitabh shared his memory of the moment.
“When Raj visited me, he walked in with a bottle of champagne, wanting to give me something to look forward to,” Amitabh recalled. “In 1982, when I had my accident on the sets of Coolie and lay struggling for my life at Breach Candy Hospital, he walked into the ICU one morning, swinging a bottle of champagne in his hand, sat down beside me and said, ‘Hurry up and get out, we need to smash this bottle on your ship of life and launch a fresh new beginning.’ The greatest showman of the film industry, Raj-ji, was someone who had joie de vivre in every pore of his being. He led, and his exuberance followed him.”
In a separate interview with India Today in 1980, Amitabh Bachchan had spoken about his past habits and the significant lifestyle changes he made over the years. He shared how he gave up smoking, drinking, and eating meat. “I don’t smoke, drink, or eat meat. It isn’t anything religious but simply a matter of taste. In our family, my father is a vegetarian and my mother is not. Similarly, Jaya eats meat and I don’t. I used to eat meat – in fact, I used to drink and smoke as well but now I have given them up. In Calcutta, I smoked 200 cigarettes a day – yes, that’s right, 200, but then I gave it up after coming to Bombay. I used to drink too – anything, we’d drink anything we could get our hands on but a few years ago I decided I didn’t really need it. My habits don’t cause me any problems except when I’m shooting abroad. Then, it becomes difficult to get vegetarian food,” he explained.
Amitabh Bachchan’s accident on the sets of Coolie in 1982 is one of the most well-known incidents in Indian cinema history. While filming an intense fight scene for the movie, Bachchan was injured during a stunt that involved a leap and a punch from his co-star, Puneet Issar. The impact led to a mistimed fall, causing severe internal injuries to Bachchan’s abdomen.
Bachchan’s condition quickly became critical due to the internal bleeding, and he was rushed to a hospital in Bangalore, before being airlifted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. His health deteriorated to the point that he was declared clinically dead for a few minutes before doctors managed to revive him. The nation, gripped by concern for the superstar, united in prayers, and after multiple surgeries and weeks in intensive care, Bachchan made a remarkable recovery.
The accident delayed the completion of Coolie, but when the film was released in 1983, the scene where the accident occurred was retained with a freeze-frame and a note acknowledging the near-fatal event. The film became a massive success, in part due to the public’s emotional connection to Bachchan’s recovery.
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