Bollywood BANKS on Bachchan!

Indians watched anxiously two months ago as their best-known film icon went in to the hospital on a stretcher -- doubled up in pain, his face gaunt and his head drooping.

As Amitabh Bachchan underwent surgery for a life-threatening stomach ailment, fans across South Asia and the Middle East prayed for his well-being until the 63-year-old emerged smiling from the hospital almost three weeks later.

Bachchan had a medical check-up this week. But India's most recognizable screen name hasn't returned to work yet, keeping the Hindi film industry, commonly known as Bollywood, on tenterhooks.

It was Bachchan who helped reverse a steady decline in Bollywood's fortunes in 2005, and analysts say the industry is looking to him for another year of improvement.

"Amitabh Bachchan has at least four films this year and quality-wise, if not quantity-wise, his films impact Bollywood," film analyst Taran Adarsh told Reuters.

His illness has kept him from taking on new projects, but he has completed shooting for his parts in at least two films.

Bachchan's 2005 hits -- "Black," "Waqt," "Sarkar" and "Bunty Aur Babli" -- together grossed nearly 1 billion rupees ($23 million) in an industry that operates on low profit margins.

The industry now waits for the return of Bachchan. The actor has said it could take up to six months for him to recover fully and that he does not know when he will resume work.

His absence is making advertisers sweat too. The star endorses an array of products from cars to chocolates and has about 55 billion rupees riding on him this year, according to estimates from Indian daily Hindustan Times.

However, film pundits said a sympathy wave for the ailing actor could help his film releases due this year, such as the extra-marital potboiler "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna," family drama "Baabul" and "Eklavya," a period film about palace intrigues.