Amitabh Bachchan out of hunger strike mode for Prakash Jha`s birthday

Mumbai: Amitabh Bachchan, who plays an anti-corruption crusader on an indefinite strike in ‘Satyagraha’, reportedly went on an actual near-starvation diet so that the scenes in the film appear authentic. But he broke the regime for director Prakash Jha`s 61st birthday recently. The 70-year-old veteran is shooting for the movie in Bhopal. Sources from the location say Amitabh has ceased to even communicate beyond what`s necessary. However, on Feb 27, there was an unexpected break in the Big B`s hunger-strike regime for "Satyagraha" when director Prakash Jha turned 61. It happened at the sprawling Ramlila Ground in Bhopal, where Jha was shooting a mammoth public-rally scene with the Big B on a hunger strike. A live musical band was also present for the shooting. Suddenly all work stopped and everyone in the cast - the Big B, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee and Arjun Rampal, burst into a live rendering of "Happy Birthday" for their director. Recalling the magical moment, Jha said: "We were shooting a critical public sequence with the entire cast and a live band was also there, when suddenly everyone burst into `Happy birthday to you` for me. I hadn`t told anyone it was my birthday." "I am not a birthday person at all. I never celebrated my birthday even as a child. So on Wednesday, at first I was embarrassed, and then deeply moved. Not every day do you get Bachchan sahab to sing `Happy Birthday` with a live band." Incidentally, in the film, the Big B plays an anti-corruption crusader very similar to Anna Hazare. IANS