When A Six-Year-Old Abhishek Bachchan Was Asked By A Kid At School If His Father Is Dying After Big B's Coolie Accident

Amitabh Bahchcan’ s near fatal accident on the sets of Coolie in 1983 is often referred to by the fans of the superstar as his second birthday. The actor and his family couldn’t be more grateful for the new lease of life that the actor got at that day and his son Abhishek Bachchan had once in a book summed his experience and feelings as a six year old who saw his father survive the horrific incident.

In the book Abhishek Bachchan: Style and Substance by photojournalist Pradeep Chandra the actor says, “In 1982, when I was six, Pa was carried into our suite at the West End Hotel in Bangalore. I bounded towards him happily, eager to jump on his back, not realising that he had been grievously injured. That was the first and last time he pushed me away from him.”

The actor and his sister Shweta Bachchan were then sent off to Mumbai the next day where they often visited their father in the ICU at Breach Candy Hospital. While his parents tried to keep the situation mellow and stress free, panic set in for Abhishek when a kid once approached his during recess at school and asked, 'Your father is going to die, isn't he?'

According to the book the actor blanked out and had a severe asthmatic attack at night and missed school the next day. The actor admitted that it was especially a difficult time for his mother Jaya Bachchan dealing with his dad in the hospital and him at home.

The actor has been quoted saying, “I may have been six, but children at that age are aware that there is something called death. I was petrified for Pa, but tried not to show it. I would pray every night, begging for his recovery, at the same time sneaking in a request for a new toy or a pencil set.”

The day Amitabh Bachchan was discharged from the hospital Abhishek tightly held his father’s finger and steered him through the crowd that had gathered. It was his way as a young boy of being protective of his father, today he is his closest friend and Abhishek is perhaps the biggest fan of his father.