Mumbai/Hyderabad: Superstar Amitabh Bachchan returned to Mumbai and celebrated Holi at his Juhu residence after suffering an injury while shooting in Hyderabad last week.

The injury resulted in damage to rib cartilage and muscle tear to the right rib cage, which required Bachchan to consult a doctor and undergo a CT scan at AIG hospital in Hyderabad before flying back to Mumbai.

In his latest entry post on Tuesday, Bachchan wrote, “The ‘holika’ was lit last night at Jalsa, there being a date confusion on the day for HOLI . . it is now done”. Thanking his fans and well-wishers for expressing concern on his injury, the actor said he was overwhelmed by the attention and grateful to his extended family.

Bachchan suffered the injury while shooting for a movie temporarily called Project K. “In Hyderabad at shoot for Project K, during an action shot, got injured, rib cartilage popped, broke and muscle tear to the right rib cage. Cancelled shoot, did doctor consult and scan by CT at AIG hospital in Hyderabad and flown back home,” the 80-year-old actor said in his blog post on Sunday.

After initial treatment and some tests at the hospital on March 3, he was back in Mumbai where he will need at least a month to recover fully.

Doctors at Hyderabad said the senior actor was not subjected to elaborate treatment. “Just a little strapping was done. The injury fortunately was not major. He was given pain medication. That’s all,” a spokesperson from AIG Hospital said. “It is not major thankfully, but he obviously needs to rest. ” Doctors said Bachchan was mobile for all essential activities but was “generally lying around.”

Writing about the injury in his blog, Bachchan said movement and breathing were painful. “Will take some weeks, they say before some normalization will occur. . ” “I progress gradually . . it shall take time . . all work has stopped and will only begin once the condition improves. . ,” the actor wrote.

The veteran actor had also urged visitors on Sunday not to come to his house in Mumbai as he would not be able to meet them at the gate.

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While filming an action scene in Hyderabad recently, Amitabh Bachchan sustained injuries. The actor shared on his blog on March 6 that he suffered a muscle tear to his right rib cage. “In Hyderabad at shoot for Project K, during an action shot, got injured, rib cartilage popped broke and muscle tear to the right rib cage. Did doctor consult & scan by CT at AIG Hospital in Hyderabad and flown back home. . . All work has been suspended for the moment (sic),” he wrote.

Yesterday, Bachchan shared another update on his blog. “I progress gradually. . . what has been prescribed by the doctors is being followed diligently (sic),” he wrote.

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A source from the film’s set informs us, “The shoot was on at a massive set that has been erected at Shankarapalli, on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Bachchan was shooting for an action sequence, with just a few extras. He was suspended on a rope and harness, and everything was going okay, until he suddenly felt his back seizing up. The shoot was cancelled immediately and he was rushed to the hospital. Abhishek (his son) was informed.”

After receiving medical care at a private hospital in Hyderabad for a popped rib cartilage and muscle tear near the right rib, the actor flew back to Mumbai. He is currently recovering at his home. 

“Abhishek and Amitabh flew back to Mumbai as soon as the doctors cleared him. He will take rest for 10 days or more, and will be back on sets only once doctors give an okay. The shooting has been put on hold for now,” adds the source.

– Neeshita Nyayapati

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Incidentally, this is not the first time that Big B was injured during a shoot. On the sets of Manmohan Desai’s 1983 film Coolie, Bachchan suffered a near-fatal injury, leaving him hospitalized for months. While shooting an action sequence, he was punched by actor Puneet Issar, and a misstep left the superstar hospitalized. He underwent several surgeries and remained critically ill for several months. As per reports, he was even “clinically dead for a few minutes.”

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Bachchan’s accident comes just days after A R Rahman’s son A R Ameen escaped an accident while shooting for a song on a film set. Ameen had shared, “I was shooting for a song and I trusted the team to have taken care of the engineering and safety, while I was focusing on performing in front of the camera. The whole truss and chandeliers that were suspended from a crane came crashing down while I was right in the middle of the spot.”

Rahman issued a statement urging the Indian cinema industry to have better safety standards on sets and locations. “A few days back, my son A R Ameen and his styling team escaped a potentially fatal disaster. As we grow our industry, we need to have a movement towards world-class safety standards on Indian sets and locations,” read the statement.

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An extreme case of lack of safety protocol on film sets was the fatal shooting on the sets of Alec Baldwin’s Rust in 2021. The project’s cinematographer passed away after a prop gun that Baldwin was holding accidentally discharged in the course of rehearsing a scene.