SHAKTISHAALI BACHCHAN SAHAB AUR UNKI CHHOTI BADI BEEMARYIAAN..... By Ali Peter John

The way Amitabh's body has been treating him for the last 50 years proves that there is some power somewhere which is either jealous of his success or consider him to be a competitor - Ali Peter John

Why would a man who has touched the sky of success be harassed by so many ailments and been in and out of hospitals like the St. Philomena's Hospital in Bangalore where he was first rushed after that nearly fatal accident on the sets of Manmohan Desai's "Coolie" and from where he was flown to Breach Candy Hospital where a team of doctors headed by Dr. Pervez Udwadia fought a grim battle to save his life and finally succeeded even through they had declared him "clinically dead" and had asked the industry to make preparations for his funeral, then the unexpected visit to the Lilavati Hospital and then only recently the four days he spent at the Nanavati Hospital after which he has come out with a certain kind of phobia about his body giving way and ultimately his taking a shocking decision to take a "longish break" after he had finished the work he has on hand, which would perhaps come to an end at the end of December, after which he plans to take what would be his second sabbatical from films.

He has just wrapped up the prestigious KBC show and is now somewhere in Manali where he went travelling by car all the way, all because of what are called "health issues".

It was during this drive to Manali where he is shooting for Ayan Mukherjee's, " Brahmastra" . In which his co-stars are Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt who have teamed up for the first time, Nagarjuna, the Telugu legend who was last seen in a Hindi film in "Shiva".

Which was the first film of the prolific Ram Gopal Varma, and other actors who are working on this film produced by Karan Johar and is considered to be a fairy tale action fantasy, that the Big B shocked people, especially his die-hard fans like his greatest fan i knew , Zain Hussain from Dubai.

He wrote about his problems with different parts of his body and he also wrote that what was happening to his body now was the result of the non-stop work that he has been doing after he came back from the jaws of death after that accident in Bangalore.

His working for 18 to 20 hours in a day at the age of 77 has evoked all kinds of reactions. Like one of his admirers who has also been watching him at work said, " Mujhe daya aati hai unko dekh kar.

Iss umar mein bhi woh itna kaam kar rahe hai, iska rahasya mujhe pata nahi, lekin main dil se kehta hu ki unko aise kaam karte huwe dekh kar mujhe sach mein daya aati hai".

Many other admirers believe that he is working his heart out because he has to keep his large family going. I don't know whether Amitabh who had once said that he would like to work till the end of his life and work even if he had to be a part of a party scene or a part of a crowd, will like what people are saying about him and his working so hard at this age.

I think it was more than 30 years ago. We were travelling to the Filmistan Studios in his vanity van (incidentally, he and Manmohan Desai were the first to have vanity vans in the industry.

It was lunch time and he offered me his lunch and said, "I am sorry, this is all that i can serve you because of the orders of the doctors who are monitoring my life these days".

I was tempted to ask him how he managed to work for such long hours and he showed me a box full of medicines and asked me," what are these for?".

He is now in some kind of a hurry to finish all the work he has. He will complete "Brahmastra" in the next few days. He will then concentrate on his work for films like "Chehre " with Emraan Hashmi as his co-star and "Gulabo Sitabo" with Ayushmaan Khurraana.

He would then finish "Jhund" directed by Harshad Manjule who last directed "Sairat". It is still not clear whether he will shoot for ads and be the brand ambassador for causes.

All those who have seen him perform at the special tribute to the martyrs of 26/11 will vouch for the truth that the one-time angry young man has still got the fire in him.

He may take up any other cause during his sabbatical, but of one thing he is sure, he will never write his autobiography, a desire which he shares with the enigmatic Rekha (no attempt being made to use her name to add spice to this story) , but what can i do when the coincidence stares me in the face?