Naseeruddin Shah has had many highs and lows throughout the course of his more than four-decade career in films. In his biography, And Then One Day, the actor discusses in-depth key periods of his career. Shah described a part of his life in the book that would undoubtedly shock his admirers. The Masoom actor revealed that Om Puri saved his life when he was wounded by another actor called Jaspal in a restaurant.
Shah said that he and Om were eating supper at a restaurant while on the set of his 1977 film Bhoomika when another actor buddy, Jaspal, walked in. Early on in the book, Shah makes it clear that he and Jaspal had some issues and were avoiding one another. He writes, “We ignored each other but, with his eyes set on me, he proceeded to sit on another table behind me, I believe.”
He said, “After a time, I felt what felt like a brief, stinging punch in the centre of my back, reminding me of his presence. I got up and groggily got ready for another free-for-all. Om screamed frantically before lunging for something behind me before I could react. When I turned around, Om and two other people were fighting to control Jaspal while he was clutching a little knife with its point covered in blood and ready to strike again.”
Naseer required rapid medical treatment, and the restaurant phoned the police. “Om came back to tell me that Jaspal was being treated in the kitchen and had been moved there. The restaurant employees wouldn’t let us leave until the cops showed up, which prevented him from taking me to the clinic as planned,” he wrote. Om Puri hopped inside the ambulance when it arrived and begged the officers to treat him gently. “Om made the fatal mistake of entering without being invited and managed to enrage the boss-man, who then requested that the police treat me gently. He was told to go, but after pleading his case to the goon in charge, he was permitted to stay.”
The actor said that when he was brought to Cooper Hospital in Juhu, he was in excruciating discomfort. “The agony was becoming worse, the blood hadn’t stopped, and these officers plainly didn’t fully comprehend the issue. We were briefly questioned before being taken to Cooper Hospital in Juhu after hearing some garbled Marathi radio transmissions.”
Source: Indian express
