Late Amjad Khan’s wife Shehla says Amitabh Bachchan signed hospital papers for Sholay actor’s surgery

Shehla Khan, the spouse of late actor Amjad Khan, has recalled the time when her better half met with an accident ahead of the shooting of The Great Gambler (1979) and required and needed surgery. In an interview, she said that actor Amitabh Bachchan had then given his sign in hospital documents for the doctors to perform a tracheostomy on Amjad. Shehla said that Amitabh ‘must have been nervous’ as nobody was sure if Amjad would make it.

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Shehla Khan “A mob had gathered outside the hospital in Sawantwadi. ‘Gabbar Singh ko bahar lao (Bring Gabbar Singh outside)’ they kept saying. The doctors sent us to Panjim or else the crowd would have pulled down the hospital. He had to be operated in Goa and that’s when Amitji (Bachchan) gave his signature for the doctors to proceed with the tracheostomy (a surgical procedure to ease breathing).”

She added, “Amjad and Amitji shared a close bond. Amitji must have been nervous because no one knew whether the man was going to make it or not. He was surprised when Amjad wrote down the term ‘tracheostomy’ on a piece of paper, gesturing to Amitji if he would be undergoing it. In fact, even in that condition, he spelled the complicated word correctly. Soon, we chartered a flight to Mumbai. We stayed in Nanavati Hospital for three months.”