• Source:JND
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Puneet Issar, celebrated for his powerful villainous roles, recently opened up about a dark phase in his life when he was wrongly accused of trying to kill Amitabh Bachchan. The incident happened in 1982 on the sets of Manmohan Desai’s movie Coolie, during the shooting of an intense action scene between Amitabh and Puneet. Unfortunately, a mistimed move led to a serious injury to Amitabh Bachchan, leaving him critically ill and hospitalised for months. In a recent interview, Puneet revealed that after the accident, he received death threats and was accused of being paid to harm the superstar. 

Puneet Issar, speaking to Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube channel, shared, “Someone said I was paid by rival actors to kill Bachchan sahab. False stories were being published. One even claimed I said I could run faster than a train. People just made things up.” He added, “There were so many threatening calls at home. People said they would kill me. But I didn’t do anything on purpose. It was just an unfortunate accident.”

 
 
 
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A post shared by Puneet Issar (@impuneetissar)

Following the incident, Puneet Issar was removed from several projects. He shared that he was dropped from 7–8 films during that time. “People started distancing themselves from me. They felt that if something happened to one star, others might be uncomfortable working with me,” he said.

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With no major film offers, Puneet struggled to keep his career going. Between 1982 and 1988, before he landed the iconic role of Duryodhan in Mahabharat. He worked as a martial arts trainer, acted in smaller films, and even gave speech training classes to stay afloat. The accident during Coolie’s shoot happened in Bangalore, and Amitabh Bachchan’s condition was so critical at one point that he was declared clinically dead. Luckily, after a long recovery in Mumbai, he survived and returned home after several months.

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Puneet Issar’s Bollywood Movies

Puneet Issar is best known for playing Duryodhan in B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharat TV series, which earned him widespread recognition. He appeared in several Bollywood movie including Border, Karan Arjun, and Refugee. He also featured in action roles during the 80s and 90s. Puneet later turned to direction and directed Garv: Pride and Honour starring Salman Khan.