Saturday November 29, 04:36 AM

Bollywood icon Bachchan keeps gun under pillow in Mumbai

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Bollywood film icon Amitabh Bachchan slept with a loaded gun under his pillow as militants attacked the city of Mumbai, he wrote in his blog.

Bachchan, a long-time resident of the city and arguably India's biggest superstar, said he was ashamed to reveal what he did as the "events of the terror attack unfolded" around him Wednesday night and Thursday.

"Before retiring for the night, I pulled out my licensed .32 revolver, loaded it and put it under my pillow," Bachchan, 66, wrote in his blog (http://bigb.bigadda.com).

The actor said he spent the entire day watching in "anguish and in anger" as TV channels broadcast visuals of commandos battling holed-up militants at the Taj and Trident-Oberoi luxury hotels and a Jewish centre in the city.

A small group of men armed with assault rifles and grenades fanned out across the city Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and businessmen, including the city's top two luxury hotels.

Mumbai, a city of 18 million, is the nerve-centre of India's growing economic might and home to the Bollywood film industry.

(Reporting by Tony Tharakan; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)