its a little past noon and amitabh bachchan bounds in from the gym upstairs with the energy of a 16 year old looking at him its hard to imagine that the 72yearold actor who is spearheading a hepatitis b campaign has been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver the ailment isnt the fallout of alcohol addiction but of a blood transfusion after an accident on the coolie sets in 1982 he needed 60 bottles of blood one of which carried the australian antigen by the time he learnt of its presence it had eaten away 25 per cent of his liverread amitabh bachchan lesser known facts that hasnt stopped bachchan from living and campaigning for a healthy life he promotes diabetes detection vans and polio vaccines even sets himself up as a medical specimen to prove that tb is not a poor mans disease or incurable hes focussed on health without being obsessed with it unlike his recent screen avatar bhashkor banerjee in piku whose emotions are linked to his motions and whose world revolves around isabgul homeopathy pills and a litany of ailments till inspired by a japanese veteran he spends a day pedalling through kolkata revisiting old haunts snacking on kachori and jalebi and finishing off with the best motion ever after that he has nothing more to live forfor the latest in bollywood news like us on facebooktoientertain shoojit director shoojit sircar and i had planned that bhashkor would die with a smile but later this seemed somewhat contrived so he just passes away peacefully in his sleep evoking empathetic smiles from the viewer many of whom would wish their dear ones to go away just as painlessly says the actor who has died many times in reel life or watched a costar pass away he recalls filming the death scene in anand weeping inconsolably with his head buried in his buddys chest as the tape plays out his last words babumoshai zindagi aur maut uparwale ke hath mein hai jahapana my hair was tickling rajesh khanna who started laughing silently and i joined him fortunately it was a top angle shot so nobody could see our faces he reminisces nostalgia he points out needs no provocation piku made without a story focussing on the ambience and chatter in a regular bengali household brings back a flood of memories the film which culminated in a homecoming took the actor back to kolkata where hed headed in the 60s in search of a job every morning id wake up put on my jacket knot my tie and visit offices with my biodata during monsoons id roll up my trousers and wade through kneedeep water in esplanade dinner was sometimes four anna phuchka at the victoria maidan money was short and i didnt want to borrow from my parents he flashbacksfor latest bollywood updates follow us on twittertoientertain after marrying jaya bhaduri his circle of friends extended to include comedian rabi ghosh whose risque jokes still make him guffaw