When Amitabh Bachchan’s fame saved Hussain Zaidi from Iraqi militiamen: ‘They thought I knew Amitabh personally’

Not only due to his memorable characters, but the screen presence of the Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, has earned immense fans for him. Earlier the celebrated investigative journalist and crime writer Hussain Zaidi shared an anecdote on how Big B’s fame saved him from Iraqi militiamen.

For the unversed, Hussain Zaidi was taken hostage by the Iraqi Militiamen who claimed that his regime possessed WMD’s aka Weapons of mass destruction. Hussain’s motive was to speak to people close to Saddam Hussein and while he was in Baghdad, he got kidnapped.


Talking to the Hindustan Times in the year 2015, Husain Zaidi mentioned that he was taken to a secret location blindfolded.

Removing the blindfold, Hussain saw himself surrounded by several men, both with beards and clean-shaven ones. One among them asked Hussain whether he was a Pakistani, to which the journalist replied that he was from India.

The question that Hussain faced after that was, “Do you know Ameesha Bakkan?” A confused Hussain who only knew Ameesha Patel (resembling the sound), said, “No I don’t know Ameesha Bakkan” This agitated the militiaman who scolded Hussain and immediately left for a brief time and went back with a still from the film ‘Shakti’ which was directed by Ramesh Sippy.

Now, the picture was clear for Hussain - the militiaman was asking about Amitabh Bachchan!

Hussain said, “That realization made me scream with joy and that guy misunderstood that I am friends with Ameesha Bakkan (Amitabh Bachchan). He then made me write a note that if he ever came to Mumbai, I would make him meet Amitabh Bachchan. I agreed immediately and saved my life.” Hussain’a anecdote reveals the fan base and popularity of the Bollywood legend.

On the work front, Amitabh was last seen in the Rajinikanth starrer ‘Vettaiyan’.
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