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When Amitabh Bachchan ‘saved’ investigative journalist Hussain Zaidi from militiamen in Iraq: ‘I got kidnapped in Baghdad’

Amitabh Bachchan's fame knows no bounds and author and former investigative journalist S Hussain Zaidi once shared with the world an anecdote highlighting the same.

A few years ago, writer S Hussain Zaidi revealed that his association with Amitabh Bachchan helped him escape a group of militiamen in Iraq. (Express archive photo)

Though it has been 55 years since he entered cinema, Amitabh Bachchan remains the Shahenshah of Bollywood, a title he earned through talent and persistent hard work. Besides being one of the finest actors Indian cinema has ever seen, with four National Film Awards for Best Actor to his credit, Bachchan is also among the biggest superstars the country has ever produced, with fans worldwide. In fact, Big B’s fame knows no bounds, as highlighted once by author and former investigative journalist S Hussain Zaidi. A few years ago, the writer revealed that his association with Bachchan helped him escape a group of militiamen in Iraq.

A celebrated investigative journalist and crime writer, Zaidi was taken hostage by Iraqi militiamen not long after the US and its allies invaded the country and overthrew President Saddam Hussein, claiming his regime possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). “I wanted to talk to people close to Saddam and I was trying to get access to them when I got kidnapped in Baghdad,” Zaidi recalled during a 2015 interview with Hindustan Times.

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Mentioning that he was taken to a secret location where, once his blindfold was removed, he found himself surrounded by bearded men, S Hussain Zaidi said that one among them, nonetheless, was clean-shaven and had long hair. “He asked me if I was Pakistani. I said that I am Hindi, from India. Then he said something in Arabic which I didn’t understand. Later he asked: Do you know Ameesha Bakkan? I said that the only Ameesha I know is Ameesha Patel. He scolded me real bad that I didn’t know Ameesha Bakkan,” Zaidi said, adding that the irritated militiaman then left briefly and returned with a still from director Ramesh Sippy’s Shakti (1982). “Suddenly it fell upon me that this guy is copying Amitabh Bachchan from Shakti. That realisation made me scream with joy and that guy misunderstood that I am friends with Ameesha Bakkan (Amitabh Bachchan). He then made me write a note that if he will ever come to Mumbai, I will make him meet Amitabh Bachchan. I agreed immediately and saved my life.”

Penned by Salim–Javed, Shakti starred Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Rakhee Gulzar, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri in key roles. It’s the only movie wherein Bachchan and Kumar appeared together. Zaidi’s most popular works include Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, Black Friday, My Name is Abu Salem and Mumbai Avengers.

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