Amitabh Bachchan ‘couldn’t sleep for two nights’ after Aishwarya Rai suffered ‘terrifying’ injury on Khakee sets: ‘Akshay Kumar extricated her’

In a 2003 interview, Amitabh Bachchan had spoken out against lackadaisical security protocols on Hindi film sets, after Aishwarya Rai was injured while working on Khakee.

Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in stills from Khakee.

Amitabh Bachchan is still at it, even in his 80s. In fact, his latest film, Kalki 2898 AD, had him in an action avatar, made possible thanks to a dedicated stunt team and cutting edge visual effects. But a couple of decades ago, Amitabh was deeply distrustful of Indian film crews, and had complained about the ‘sab ho jayega’ attitude that he had observed on sets. Amitabh was speaking in the context of a grave injury that Aishwarya Rai had sustained while working on their film Khakee. Aishwarya wasn’t a part of the Bachchan family then, but watching the accident on set gave Amitabh sleepless nights.

In a 2003 interview with Rediff, the superstar had recalled what transpired, and said that they had to use all of their VIP privileges to transport Aishwarya to hospital. “We were shooting (for Rajkumar Santoshi’s Khaki) on the road outside Nashik. The stuntman drove too fast, at 60, 70 kilometres per hour, and skidded. All of us jumped out of the way. But Aishwarya and Tusshar Kapoor couldn’t move fast enough. The car slammed into her chair. It was terrifying. The car hit her and took her down a crevice.”

He said that Akshay Kumar leapt into action and pulled Aishwarya out, but her back had lacerations all over it, and her feet were fractured. “I asked Aishwarya’s mother if she wanted to take her daughter back to Mumbai,” Amitabh continued. “We organised (vice-chairman and managing director, Reliance Group) Anil Ambani’s private plane. Since there is no night landing facility in Nashik, we had to take permission from Delhi to land the plane at the military base which is 45 minutes away from the hospital. The seats had to be removed from the aircraft. And everyone is brushing it off as a small incident blown out of proportion.”

 Amitabh Bachchan faced a media ban after the press claimed they were ill-treated at the wedding of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. (Photo: Amitabh Bachchan/Instagram)Amitabh said that he was worried sick, and couldn’t sleep for two nights. “To see this happen in front of my eyes! Her back was lacerated with cactus thorns. The bone in the rear portion of her feet is broken. She suffered severe cuts. And her injury was reported as trivial,” he said, calling into question the safety protocols on Hindi film sets

Aishwarya married Amitabh’s son, Abhishek Bachchan, in 2007. Their wedding was conducted in utmost secrecy at the Bachchan family home in Juhu. Aishwarya and Abhishek welcomed their first child, daughter Aaradhya, in 2011. Recently, Aishwarya and Aaradhya attended the Paris Fashion Week together, and were then in attendance at the SIIMA awards, where Aishwarya won an honour.