‘Mere ghar pe ek sher paida hua hai’: Abhishek’s birth inspired Amitabh to fight tiger on set

“I was asked not to face the tiger. If it hit me with its paw, it could mutilate my face! After doing a few shots, I got used to it. So, I did the scene for the next two to three days. When Amit ji saw me, he also got the encouragement and said, ‘I’d do the scene too,'” added Mohan.

He revealed that Bachchan’s motivation actually stemmed from him receiving the news that he’d become father to Abhishek Bachchan that day on February 5, 1976. “We were shooting in Kandivali, and he got a call saying, ‘Aap ke ghar mein ladka paida hua hai.’ So, he said, ‘Ye sher hai toh main bhi sher hu. Mere ghar pe ek sher paida hua hai.‘ So, he also gave some nice shots.”

When the tiger left Mohan injured

Mohan Baggad said that while he did take on the tiger in Khoon Pasina, there came a point during the shoot when the tiger took him down so aggressively that his head hit the ground, and he fainted. He also faced another setback while doing an action scene with a tiger for Amitabh Bachchan in another film, Rakesh Kumar’s 1979 action comedy Mr. Natwarlal.

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“The tiger hit me with its paw, so I still have injury marks on my face. Another friend of mine even got 10-12 stitches,” said Mohan. “The tigers weren’t trained. Only their mouths were stitched. But since they’d get angry by that, they’d attack everyone,” he added.

Mohan Baggad also recalled another star who was known for performing dangerous animal sequences without relying on a stunt doubl, Dharmendra. “Dharmendra shot the scenes with the leopard himself in Kartavya. He would not use duplicates,” revealed Mohan, referring to Mohan Segal’s 1979 action film.