May 15, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Naseeruddin Shah is far from amused by the alarming reports about his health that floated around since yesterday when he was rushed from Coorg to a hospital in Bangalore.

When for the first time in his entire healthy and robust life Naseeruddin Shah collapsed on location in Coorg, everyone from Mumbai to Vancouver was worried. Literally.

Irrfan Khan, who’s shooting in Vancouver, was on the phone early in the morning to ask, “Arrey yeh Naseer ko kya ho gaya? Please find out and tell me.”

Discreet inquiries revealed that Naseer had indeed had a health scare in Coorg and was rushed to Bangalore to a hospital. His son Imaad sounded quite disturbed. “I’m flooded with calls since morning. I’d rather you didn’t ask me about it.”

However, it was Naseer’s wife, Ratna Pathak Shah, who put the matter to rest with her characteristic candour and humour.

Said Ratna, “It’s just a minor flutter. He had a giddy spell. Shayad paon bhari hai. Tests are all clear, so nothing to report.”

A day later, Naseer, in his characteristic acerbic style, says, “The alarming reports about my health were fictitious. It was nothing serious. Just a small bout of vertigo. It was troublesome. I had to get a scan done. So I was flown from Coorg, where I was shooting, to Bangalore.”

Putting all speculation to rest, Naseer says he’s much better now. “Some of the reportage about my health seems more wishful than sympathetic.”

-Sampurn Wire