Even before he could make a mark in the industry a big dent was put on Puneet's career graph owing to the infamous Coolie accident. Puneet, a newbie, was supposed to emerge as the new kid on-the-block but things took an ugly turn and Puneet became one of the most hated man in the industry. Afterall, it was Puneet's kick in the film that made Amitabh Bachchan almost lose his life in reality.
While Puneet's wife even donated blood for Mr Bachchan and the Bachchan family was always cordial to Puneet and his wife, the nation was not ready to forgive Issar that soon. The man stopped getting work, for six years. He took up some roles in B-grade films to sustain and take care of his family. Industry people also turned a blind eye towards him as no one wanted to be associated with the man who had 'hurt' Amitabh Bachchan.
Rekha, who was enamoured by Big B's aura, has till date not forgiven Puneet Issar. It was on one of the season's of Bigg Boss, where Rekha made her anger pretty evident. While she greeted and appreciated everyone, she categorically left Puneet. No smile, no wave, no look. Soon after that, as per a report in Pinkvilla, Puneet's wife had spoken to a magazine and had said, "Rekha wears sindoor for Amitabh Bachchan."
How it happened
Talking about what had happened, Puneet had told Rediff, "I was supposed to throw some punches at Mr Bachchan and he was supposed to throw some punches at me. It was a mock fight. We did some rehearsals. We did about seven rehearsals and they went fine. But during the rehearsals, Amitji would always stop at the table. Then came the actual take and Amitji was much more charged. I (mock) punched him and threw him on the table as I was supposed to do. But Amitji took a leap, somersaulted and fell off the table. If you remember, that's where the shot has been stopped even in the actual film."
What went wrong
He further added, "Amitji said, 'Mujhe lag gayi hai [I am hurt].' At first, there was guilt. This was my first film after all. After the accident, Mr Bachchan told me, 'Relax, these things happen while shooting. It was just a mock fight.' Then he got up and left. We continued shooting after that. But the next day, he did not turn up for shooting and we panicked. We didn't realise the seriousness at the time of the accident. Later, the pain started growing and we thought we should admit him to hospital. Basically, whenever there is internal bleeding, you have to be operated on in a span of 6 to 7 hours. But the problem was nobody could diagnose it and the pain started growing. To be honest, I would say the negligence of the doctors aggravated the whole situation."
It was after struggling for six years that Puneet Issar finally resurrected his career by bagging the role of Duryodhana in Mahabharata.
