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Mumbai, Nov 6: Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, once voted the entertainer of the millennium, says he is still petrified every time he goes on stage, a newspaper reported on Monday.

Bachchan said he was planning a series of stage concerts around the world with his son Abhishek, which meant he would perform for a live audience, although not for the first time.

"I still suffer from acute stage fright," Amitabh told a newspaper. "I am petrified."

Stage shows by Bollywood actors and musicians are hugely profitable and a popular means of interaction between the industry and millions of Indians living abroad.

"In 1973, I remember at Southall in London, at one of the shows, there were just four members in the audience," he said, adding that the stage-show business had come a long way since.

Amitabh returned to work in March, after being discharged from a Mumbai hospital in December following stomach surgery that doctors said could have been life threatening if left untreated.

But even at his age, the legendary actor is not known to be short on energy levels and recently shot 23 scenes in five hours for his forthcoming films.

"If you continue wondering where my energy levels come from it may soon disappear," Bachchan told the newspaper.

In 1999 he was voted the millennium's biggest star in a BBC Online poll.