by Subhash K Jha

A routine checkup for a stomach infection was blown out of all proportions by an over-zealous section of the electronic media.

Amitabh Bachchan isn't the country's biggest star for nothing. "What I do and also what I don't do are blown out of all proportions," he laughs.

Hence a visit to a Delhi hospital en route to Mumbai was taken to be enough signal for the some tv channels to go ballistic with speculation.

"I'm fine and there's absolutely no cause for alarm. On Sunday I was in Lucknow for a function on the occasion of my father's (poet Harivanshrai Bachchan) birthday. Today on the way back to Mumbai I had this minor ailment. That's all. No need to raise a hue and cry about it when there's so many important national issues that require urgent attention," says AB.

Though the news of his hospitalization on Monday morning turned out to be much ado about hardly anything, it's a fact that Mr Bachchan needs to look after himself. Most of his well-wishers feel he's going way beyond the schedules prescribed for someone his age.

"He really needs to slow down. But Pa just doesn't listen," says Abhishek. Last week he returned from New York and went straight into Ravi Chopra's Babul.

On Sunday he was at a function in Lucknow on the occasion of his father the late Harivanshrai Bachchan's birthday. On Monday morning he felt queasy in the morning, but in control. But the health warning has been served. It's time to take it easy.