Deepika Padukone shields herself from the strong November sun at Burdwan Rajbari in Alipore that was the set for Piku on Monday. (Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

@SrBachchan: So..media conjectures that I am ill is incorrect! That neck brace that they see me wearing is part of my costume in ‘PIKU”..!

Amitabh Bachchan, no stranger to a stroke of misfortune on the sets, took to Twitter on Monday evening to scotch speculation that he had taken ill in Calcutta after a daylong shoot in the unusually harsh November sun.

Bachchan, who had cycled down a Dalhousie street on the first day of shooting for Shoojit Sircar’s Piku on Sunday, was parked at Alipore’s Burdwan Rajbari on Monday.

In keeping with the character he is playing, 72-year-old Bachchan looked decidedly frail in his pyjamas, socks and a grey half-sweater. A neck brace and a head of snow-white hair completed the picture of a Bengali father to Deepika Padukone, who plays the central character of Piku.

Late in the afternoon, he took a longish break from shooting and retired to his vanity van, triggering the buzz about his health. He resumed shooting in the evening and it was close to 9pm when director Shoojit signalled pack-up. Bachchan then got into his black Mercedes and headed for The Oberoi Grand.

Sources said Bachchan’s get-up for the role, coupled with a workload that would stress actors half his age, were possibly responsible for the speculation that he had taken ill. Around afternoon, with the sun blazing and Bachchan still in his half-sweater, the picture of a tall, elderly man seated on a stack of four plastic chairs tied together with tape had appeared telling.

A LIFETIME AGO, when Calcutta was the most happening city in the country

Amitabh Bachchan on the lawns of Alipore’s Burdwan Rajbari while shooting for Piku on Monday afternoon. Don’t miss the stack of four plastic chairs — their legs tied together with tape — to make it a comfortable perch for (Grand) Daddy Long Legs. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

OH CALCUTTA! Amitabh Bachchan wrote about Calcutta on his blog (http://srbachchan. tumblr.com) on Sunday night. Kolkata WB, Grand, Nov 2, 2014 The very streets that I would walk about on a nonentity, nondescript, nonplussed, seeking and searching wading through the flood waters of the monsoons, for a suitable job... today I ride my bicycle for ‘PIKU’. The Writers Building, the Government House, the Maidan, tram services, Victoria Memorial, Chowringhee.. oh.. such vivid memories.. and those ecstatic years of 1962, when Calcutta was the most happening city in the country.. what times.. the Park Street culture, where a motley collection of restaurants and bars and confectioners, dinner and dance floors.. all in one sequenced line one after the other.. and the evenings that were spent on those pavements walking from one to the other — Trinca’s, Blue Fox, Mocambo, Moulin Rouge, Firpo’s, Waldorf.. Flury’s the phuchkas at Victoria Memorial, the kati kababs at Nizam’s.. and across that exclusive night club the Golden Slipper.. ending the evening at the Grand Hotel in the ballroom and after.. the midnight ride to DumDum airport, just for a coffee or that extra little.. The tram rides, the chummeries where 8 of us lived in one small room at Clacton Apartments — 10x15 feet crammed but most enjoyable residence… Esplanade, the Calcutta Swimming Club, the riverside by the Hooghly, and the fascinating ‘bore tides’ a mountain of a 20’ wave that came up from the mouth of the Hooghly... travelling miles up the river and past the city until it subsided.. the ships and boats breaking anchor and being thrown around in the turbulent waters in its wake… There was not a single area where we had not changed residence.. paying guests at 300 rupees a month.. Chowringhee, Tollygunj, Ballygunj, Alipur, New Alipur, Russell Street… And the friends we made … some of them still meeting up and connecting from different parts of the country and the world.. The pictures we went to… LightHouse and Elite cinemas… and the films of the time.. West Side Story a compulsive watch for a number of times.. Anupama and the impression it left.. The work places… the office, the learnings of executive kind, postings to the Coal mines for training, shipping and freight broking.. Bird Heilgers, Blacker and Co., .. Mackinnon Mackenzie, Shaw Wallace, Andrew Yule and so many others.. the executives often being referred to later as ‘box walas’... I could never figure that one out.. It would take a mammoth amount of time to detail everything — the film shootings, the concerts, the events later.. right down to the ISL recently.. it has been a lifetime… (Metro has taken the liberty of correcting the spellings of some city landmarks)

Back in his hotel, the Bolly legend tweeted that his fans shouldn’t make a big deal of yet another Bachchan rumour. “Arre yaar..please... do not make such a big hohaa about the media report..it’s not their fault..happens sometimes !!” he said.

Bachchan’s health — and he has had a few scares during the course of an illustrious career that started in 1969 — has long been a subject of national importance, especially after a life-threatening injury on the sets of Coolie in 1982. He has also been hospitalised a few times for various ailments and underwent surgery in 2012.

But while health has been a factor in Bachchan’s career, he has never been away from the spotlight for too long.

top gear at writers’ and go green at alipore... aLL IN A DAY’S SHOOT FOR PIKU

The day began early — as early as 7am — for Deepika Padukone on her first day of shoot for Piku in front of Writers’ Buildings, Irrfan Khan for company. The two — sharing screen space for the first time in their career — were seen sitting inside a black SUV, with Irrfan, cool and casual in beige chinos and blue-and-white checked shirt, in the driver’s seat, and a dimpled Deepika in a pink kurta next to him. As the shoot progressed, Sircar hopped into the driver’s seat, vacated by Irrfan, to discuss the scene with his film’s leading lady. Irrfan — who had told t2 in an interview last year how much he had enjoyed watching Sircar’s Madras Cafe (“I thought Madras Cafe was a very gutsy and engaging take on our political history and Shoojit Sircar’s integrity shines through”) — was often seen chatting with the director. The action later shifted to Alipore’s Burdwan Rajbari, where all eyes were on Amitabh Bachchan. Playing a Bengali old man, he was dressed in white pyjamas, beige kurta, grey half-sweater and sporting a neck brace. The veteran actor shot inside the Rajbari, taking a break in between shots to sit on a stack of plastic chairs on the sprawling greens, the sun beating down on his head. He continued shooting through the afternoon before taking a break in his vanity van in the early evening. He was later seen pacing up and down prepping for his shot. He left the Rajbari around 9pm, after Shoojit Sircar signalled pack-up. Piku, that explores the father-daughter relationship with Bachchan playing father to Deepika, also stars Moushumi Chatterjee and Jisshu Sengupta. The stars are scheduled to shoot in town for a week, before returning for a later schedule after a gap. Pictures by Sayantan Ghosh andSanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Critical care expert Subrata Maitra said a veteran actor like Big B would be used to such conditions. “It would be unusual if he took ill just because of shooting in warm weather.”

The days have been warmer than usual while the nights and early mornings have been cool in Calcutta over the last three days.