'Amitabh Bachchan went bankrupt, he never used to lament,' says Ashish Vidyarthi as he recalls working with the legendary actor: 'People did eat when he was injured during Coolie'

While Amitabh Bachchan has been at the peak of stardom for most of his career, the legendary actor also went through a tough phase in his career. The actor almost went bankrupt when he started his own production house ABCL and it went into severe losses. To make matters worse, his acting career had also hit a low point. Actor Ashish Vidyarthi who has worked with Bachchan during those times, recently reflected on that difficult period and shared his own experience of working alongside Bachchan as he staged his comeback.



In a conversation with Siddharth Kannan, Ashish remembered how, despite the hardships, Bachchan continued to be thoughtful and generous. “I can never forget working with him in 'Mrityudaata', which was his comeback film. During that time my father was very old, and my mother had recently had a heart attack. So I used to go back to Delhi every night to stay with her, and then I used to take a flight to Mumbai. So I requested Amit Ji, ‘Can you please write a letter for my mother?’ She was recovering from her heart attack, and I read that letter to my mother in the hospital.”




He then spoke about his next film with Bachchan, pointing out how no one could guess the personal struggles he was facing because his professionalism never wavered. “After that I shot 'Major Saab' with him, and his discipline was unmatched. Normally people take off their costumes and the fake moustache or beard in between shots, but he would sit in character all night wearing everything. If at any point, someone feels disappointed with their lives, Amit ji is the most extraordinary example to look at. People from the industry complain about not getting work or being left out, but look at what he went through. He had a hold on the entire country at one point; he was a star. People didn’t eat when he was injured during 'Coolie'. When he went through that bad patch, he dealt with it, and he never used to lament about anything.”



Ashish further praised Bachchan’s work ethic, noting that it has remained unchanged even decades later. “Even the last time I worked with him in 'Goodbye', that man took instruction from the director with his head down. He is unbelievable; he is always on time and never makes anyone feel uncomfortable. Never opposes the director if they want to take another shot. You can learn so much by just looking at him, and I don’t agree with anyone who disagrees with his performance. In a world where everyone knows that people in front of the camera are not being genuine, he was able to grip everyone’s attention.”



Bachchan himself has spoken openly about those years. In an earlier conversation with Vir Sanghvi, he recalled just how dire things had become. “Yes, it was, in fact, attached. All assets, all properties were attached. So when you sign a personal guarantee, then you are personally liable to pay that and so there were about Rs 90 crore to be paid back.” He added that he was burdened with “55 legal cases and there were creditors on the door everyday, very embarrassing, very humiliating.”