When Smita Patil had got an intuition about Amitabh Bachchan’s accident on ‘Coolie’ sets

Whenever we reminiscence the time of 80’s in Bollywood, megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Coolie’ (1983) finds huge prominence. This Manmohan Desai and Prayag Raj directorial is not only remembered for its blockbuster status, but also for the near-fatal accident faced by Big B while shooting for an action sequence with his co-star Puneet Issar. The accident which took place during the shoot, in 1982, took the actor several months to fully recover.

And now, after almost 35 years of this horrific accident, we found an interesting and unknown fact related to the same. Not many would be aware but just a day before this accident; one of Amitabh’s co-stars had got an intuition about the actor’s health. And it was none other than late actress Smita Patil.

A few years before the incident, Amitabh had made his way to attend the autobiography launch of late actress Smita Patil titled ‘Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence’. Here, at the event Amitabh recalled the incident where Smita had called him up late night around 2 am. Big B said, “I was in Bangalore shooting for ‘Coolie’ once. Late into the night at around 2 am I received call in my hotel room. The receptionist informed me that it was Smita Patil on the line. I was shocked as I had never spoken or talked to her at such a time. Thinking that it would be important one, I answered.” [sic]

“Smita asked me if I was alright and in good health. I answered yes and she said that she just had a bad dream about me and that’s the reason behind calling up so late in the night. The next day I had my accident,” added the ‘Pink’ actor. [sic] (Also Read: Amitabh Bachchan to be a part of Kabir Khan’s next?)

Well, to everyone’s shock, straight after this call, the very next day Amitabh Bachchan suffered from this near-fatal incident on the sets of ‘Coolie’.

Clearly, Smita as a dear friend had foreseen via her nightmare, the ill that was to befall the megastar. However, we are glad that Amitabh Bachchan recovered.

Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.