AMITABH BACHCHAN ADVISED REST FOLLOWING EXHAUSTION

India's entertainment capital was agog with rumours yesterday about the superstar being advised to undergo another surgery. However, his family doctor, Jayant Barve, yesterday denied any knowledge of an impending surgery.

Bachchan returned to his shooting assignments last Monday, and was busy over the week shuttling between two sets.

His Bollywood assignments included Karan Johar's film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, and a Bhojpuri film, Ganga, being produced by his long-time make-up artiste, Deepak Sawant.

The superstar was to have ended his hectic schedules by Saturday evening and was to have flown to Kolkata for a function the next day, organised by a cosmetics firm, of which he is the brand ambassador.

However, according to sources in the industry, an exhausted Bachchan — who had strained himself by returning to his hectic shooting schedule — retired from the sets and doctors advised him immediate rest. He also cancelled the Kolkata event and shootings for yesterday.

According to Bollywood sources, films worth over Rs2.5 billion were blocked because of Bachchan's illness. Most producers decided to postpone the shooting till Bachchan's recovery. His return last week brought relief to many of the filmmakers, though Bachchan decided to take up only two films initially, including the Bhojpuri film by his make-up man.

But there was gloom in Bollywood yesterday, brought about by uncertainties caused by a possible relapse of Bachchan's long-festering ailment.