Superstar Amitabh Bachchan and diva Lata Mangeshkar, Indian showbiz' most formidable twosome, have lately discovered a mutual love and admiration for each other.

The bonding between the two is evident from the fact that Amitabh makes it a point to attend any function Lata invites him to.

On Thursday, Amitabh flew down to Pune to inaugurate the cancer wing of Lata's hospital, Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar Memorial Hospital.

The mega-star had flown in from Bangkok just two days ago for a special screening of his new film "Sarkar".

On Thursday evening, he was supposed to attend the premiere of "Sarkar" with Abhishek Bachchan in Hyderabad. After attending the Mumbai premiere Wednesday night he left for Pune Thursday. After attending Lata's function he proceeded the same evening to Hyderabad on a chartered plane.

There was no other way he could attend the event in Pune and the "Sarkar" premiere in Hyderabad on the same day.

This camaraderie between the two started at lyricist Javed Akhtar's 60th birthday bash in January where they were seen laughing and bonding together.

Then when Lata shyly invited Amitabh to receive an award at a function marking her father's death anniversary, the mega-star graciously took time out to be there.

Before leaving for Pune to inaugurate a wing of Lata's hospital, Amitabh said: "It can't be helped. When Lataji asked me to inaugurate a new wing in her hospital I instantly agreed.

"We had spoken about it a month in advance. And there was no question of refusing. No one says no to Lataji. Yes, I had to make special arrangements to attend both her function and the premiere in Hyderabad. The effort was definitely worth it for her sake."

Speaking on the discernible new bonding between them, he observed: "We've always had tremendous respect and love for each other. Maybe now we've more occasions to interact and get to know each other better.

"I adore Lata Didi's sense of humour. There's always a mischievous smile hovering on her face and a twinkle in her eye. She has a joke for every occasion. Does she really say all those wonderful things about me? She's just being kind. She is far ahead of me in every respect."