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Mumbai, April 5: Amitabh Bachchan lost his cool and chided a journalist today, accusing him of questioning his “loyalty” to Maharashtra.

“You tell me, have I not done anything for Maharashtra?” the actor snapped at a TV reporter on being asked to comment on a fresh attack on him — this time from the party of close friend Bal Thackeray.

“I don’t know about others. Since you are asking me this question, you tell me have I not done anything for Mumbai? If you don’t know, then it is not fair (to ask),” Bachchan said.

Earlier this morning, Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna had virtually repeated the charge by Raj Thackeray that Bachchan was more loyal to his native Uttar Pradesh than to Maharashtra, where he made his fortune and fame.

The front-page article praised actor Rajanikanth for backing his adopted state Tamil Nadu in its water dispute with Karnataka, where he was born.

It then commented: “People who have benefited from Mumbai and Maharashtra often don’t take up the Marathi cause and run away. This includes people like Amitabh Bachchan.”

Bachchan was asked about it at a police programme that he attended to support an anti-noise pollution campaign.

The film star would have been surprised and hurt by Saamna’s comments. He writes an article for the newspaper on Thackeray’s birthday every year, and has played a character based on the politician in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar and its yet-to-release sequel, Sarkar Raj.

Two months ago, Thackeray had defended Bachchan against Raj’s criticism, terming his nephew’s charges “baseless”.

“Amitabh is not just my friend, I have family ties with him. We have been friends for the last 40 years. He loves Maharashtra,” Thackeray had said on February 6.

“On many occasions, he (Bachchan) has maintained, in speeches and interviews, that it is Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai, that has made him big. It is foolish to accuse him of being parochial.”

Today’s article, headlined “Rajanikanth khallya mithala jagala (Rajanikanth stays loyal to the salt he eats)” praised the southern actor’s “loyalty” to Tamil Nadu that had made him a superstar.

Rajanikanth, who happens to be a Marathi, had joined the Tamil film industry’s hunger strike in Chennai yesterday — a fallout of Tamil Nadu’s dispute with Karnataka over the Hogenkal drinking water project.

The article went on to ask if Maharashtrian actors such as Nana Patekar, Urmila Matondkar and Madhuri Dixit would take to the streets in the cause of Marathi pride.

Bachchan, known for his composure and grace at public events, has steadfastly refused to comment on the street campaign against him by Raj’s supporters, who have put up hoardings and banners lampooning the actor.

When he broke his silence last week on Raj’s original allegations, he merely said: “Everybody has a right to freedom of speech and I only follow the Indian Constitution and my conscience.”