Aishwarya's Accident During Khakee

It was a normal shift on the sets of Raj Kumar Santoshi's Khakee at Pahina village in Trimbakeshwar near Nashik. The unit had been shooting at various locations on the Trimbakeshwar-Nashik road since March 28 and everyone was grateful that despite the burning climate, the shooting had progressed without any hitches. The director was confident that he would be able to can the shots involving combined dates of the stars within the next two days shooting. Tusshar Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai were already in Nashik and Amitabh Bachchan had flown in that morning - April 2, Friday. So had Vrinda Rai, Aishwarya's mother to spend a few days with her daughter. Hari Singh, Aishwarya's secretary had flown in the previous evening accompanying an international agency representing the studio making Bond movies. The team was scheduled to meet the actress on the sets post-lunch, when they arrived around 4 p.m., Aishwarya was in her van giving an interview. She asked Hari Singh to entertain them until she joined them.

About an hour later, when she emerged from the van, she decided to check out her scenes on the monitor before preparing for her next shot. Seated beside Tusshar Kapoor she waved out to Hari Singh indicating that she was joining him. That's the time a spot boy even came and suggested to the duo if he should carry their chairs on the other side of the road where the rest of the unit was seated but Tusshar and Aishwarya did not respond, pre-occupied with the monitor. As she was watching the rehearsal, Aishwarya casually glanced over at the Maruti Gypsy to be utilised in taking test rounds and wondered if the vehicle was adequately repaired for the shooting. As she was expressing this aloud to her co-star, the vehicle skidded and knocked her down in a thorny bush.

I asked him if my face was bruised. I asked him to check my toes if they were bleeding. But Akshay refused to reveal anything, repeating that we should not discuss anything till we reached the hospital.For a moment, nobody registered what had happened. The driver who had apparently lost control over the vehicle and skidded over the mud, continued to sit at the steering wheel, frozen into inaction. For a few seconds probably, Aishwarya lost consciousness. When she opened her eyes, all she remembered were two moving tyres at a fraction of a distance of her. She wasn't sure if she was mobile. And she wasn't sure if her limbs were intact, but from where she was she could see Akshay Kumar's legs and called out to him. The unit until then hanging in suspense were relieved to hear her voice. Akshay jumped into action and rushed to save her. In her dazed state, Aishwarya cautioned the driver not to move a centimetre, "Let him take the vehicle in reverse," she instructed Akshay. Akshay not wanting to take any risk ordered the unit to jointly pull the vehicle from the rear.

In the meanwhile, Akshay very gently gathered Aishwarya from the bush taking care not to hurt her waist down. "I was fortunate that I was wearing a denim shirt and jeans. In a way, that protected me. Had I been wearing a flimsy dress or even a saree, it would have caused me further damage," revealed Aishwarya later at the hospital. Akshay carried her in the van, the passersby who had collected in huge crowds swarmed them, unwilling to let them pass. That is the time a normally courteous Bachchan raised his voice to reprimand the crowd. He ordered everyone to clear the way and depict some respect to a person in pain.

Immediately, the mob cleared the way. Aishwarya, accompanied by Vrinda Rai and Akshay Kumar travelled to Kakatkar Hospital in Nashik.