Meet Salman Khan’s ‘brother-in-law’, who became star after…, career got ruined because of Amitabh Bachchan, for 6 years he was…

He was almost backlisted by the industry, losing out on several projects and facing years of struggle, which took a toll on both him and his family.

Today we will talk about an actor who made his Bollywood debut alongside superstar Amitabh Bachchan, but his career ended after he accidentally injured Big B while shooting for an action sequence. Following the incident, he faced blame from the film fraternity and Bachchan’s fans for the actor’s health condition. He was almost backlisted by the industry, losing out on several projects and facing years of struggle, which took a toll on both him and his family.

He is none other than Puneet Issar. During a high-take action scene in Coolie (1982), Puneet Issar was supposed to throw a mock punch at Amitabh Bachchan. Unfortunately, the shot got mistimed and an edge of the table hit Big B’s lower abdomen, resulting him in a serious injury and saw him hospitalised for months. As he was recovering, the entire nation was glued to the news and was praying for his betterment and recovery.

Amitabh, held no grudge against Puneet, ensuring him that it was just an accident. In an old interview, the actor recalled the ‘greatness’ of Big B. “I remember Mr Bachchan telling me, ‘Puneet relax, it happened to me also. It was an accident. You didn’t mean it.’ Look at the greatness of that man. He told me all this when he was in hospital,” he had said.

He also recalled how he didn’t get any work after the incident and struggled for almost 6 years. “I would go to hospital regularly to see Amitji. For 3, 4 years, I did not get any work. I had a wife to support and was jobless. I did Z grade films at that time. I struggled for six years after that accident and only after that did people start coming forward to work with me. I got roles like Duryodhan in B R Chopra’s television serial, Mahabharata,” he had said.

Puneet never worked with Amitabh Bachchan again after Coolie. He, however, went on to share screen space with Big B’s son Abhishek Bachchan in his debut film Refugee. He gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of Duryodhana in the epic TV series Mahabharat (1988-1990). He even directed Garv: Pride and Honour (2004) starring Salman Khan in lead. He also played the role of Khan’s brother-in-law in 1991 blockbuster Sanam Bewafa.