Veteran actress Zeenat Aman, who has played the lead opposite Amitabh Bachchan in blockbusters like The Great Gambler and Laawaris, missed wishing her co-star on his 81st birthday on October 11. And the sassy actress decided to “make up for it by telling a story about him” on her Instagram handle.

The anecdote refers to an incident from one of their film shoots — Aman chose not to disclose the name of the film, the director, the producer, or the year of its release — when Bachchan, known for his legendary punctuality, arrived late on the set and she bore the brunt of it.

In the Instagram post, Aman recounted a morning when she reached the film set as per time and instructed the crew to inform her in her makeup room when Bachchan was ready for the shoot.

“An entire hour went by before there was a knock on the door. An AD (assistant director) informed me that Mr Bachchan had arrived, and that he’d run straight from his car to the set,” writes Aman, who immediately sprang to her feet and went downstairs to the set.

“I had just about stepped foot on set when from across the room the director let loose a torrent of abuse... under the impression that it was I who had held up production. The cast and crew stood in stunned silence as this director ranted and raved at me,” added Aman, who remembers fighting back “tears of indignation”.

She retreated to her makeup room, having decided not to work on this film any further, and just as her team was packing up at her instruction, Bachchan came up to her along with the film’s producer. “He said: ‘Babs, I know it’s my fault. The man is a fool and he’s drunk. Let it go and let’s get to work’,” Aman writes.

Aman accepted Bachchan’s apology and returned to the set when she had softened enough. “The director threw himself at my feet and begged my forgiveness… and though I completed the film, I never worked with that director again,” the Hare Rama Hare Krishna actress signed off.