No spicy food for ailing Amitabh

It's now a week since he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai with an acute pain in the abdomen.

A close friend of the Bachchans who wishes to remain anonymous told IANS: "It's a condition known as diverticulitis. Author Faroukh Dhondy also suffered the same ailment.

"It means Bachchan has to stay completely away from spicy, 'masala' food. Any of these things can aggravate his condition. Otherwise he's fine."

Talking about the stress that Bachchan's family was facing, he says: "It's a very tough time for the Bachchans. It isn't so much the illness...the worst is definitely over and he is expected to be home in the next 10 days. It's the pressure of the media and the never-ending influx of guests. That's hard to handle.

To Abhishek, Shweta and Jaya's credit they're handling the crisis exceptionally well. Not once do they allow their inner trauma to boil over.

"The arrangement at Lilavati is impeccable. Right from the outside compound where the press is stationed to the foyer where guests are received...the place is as well appointed and organised as a five-star hotel...One of the three Bachchans is unfailingly around to receive a guest. And they're oh so gracious."

As for the lack of information on Bachchan's condition, he says: "It's basically Abhishek's decision. He doesn't want anyone to talk about his father's condition until full recovery. If in doing so he's considered a villain he doesn't mind.

"Right now Mr. Bachchan's full recuperation is all that counts to the family, and rightly so."