Day 54 - BigB

So finally I am writing about one of my two passions in recent years - One,of course, is Star Wars and the other is BigB or Amitabh Bachchan.

I've always been a fan of Amitabh Bachchan....yes even in those years when he was not doing good movies and was down on his luck. I remember feeling very disappointed by his role in 'Mohabatien' when SRK was given more prominence and BigB's role was not up to the mark. At that time we did not know that BigB was in need - dire need - of just some acting to pay the bills. Today everyone is a fan and everyone loves him.

I had an interesting conversation with Ani this evening. I was watching Big Boss and Amitabh Bachchan interviewing Ismail Durbar who had just been evicted from the house. At the end of the interview, Ismail Durbar cried on his shoulder and his wife touched BigB's feet. I was watching this and wondered what is it that drives people to do that for Amitabh Bachchan.

What is Amitabh Bachchan? At the very core level he is but an actor - nothing more, nothing less. What has he done for you and me for us to feel so passionately about him? What has he contributed to our lives that we feel so strongly about him? At least I do! If you refer to my post of Day 26 on 28th August you will find that No. 5 on my list of 10 things to do before I die is to meet Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. Why? And what will I do when I meet him? Gush over him, take an autograph, take a picture and remember that for my lifetime. He won't even remember if he meets me. So why this love for him?

I realised that my love for BigB has increased since the time he started writing his blog about a year back. I follow it daily like a ritual. Through his writings on his blog I have understood what a principled man he is. How he values his time, life and family and how he swears to protect them against anything. How intelligent he is and how lucid he is in his writing and prose. How he makes us feel like his family and values our time and comments.

I respect him for the fact that he had seen the heights of fame, the outpouring of people's love, the depths of loneliness and dis-respect and how he bounced back from the brink of disaster through his hard work. How he swore to and did pay off his creditors and how he built back his legend.

But mostly I love him for his desire of excellence in his work. The fact that even at an age of 65+ when his contemporaries have long since hung up their boots, he is doing challenging roles and work like Last Lear, Black, Nishabd, Cheeni Kum and the soon-to-come revolution in Indian Cinema - PAA! Here is a man who does not need to prove anything to anyone, who goes back and does a role of a 13 year old when he is 65 himself. Why? Because of the need to excel in his art. And that's a legend!

I can keep writing on this subject but I would like to end with Paa's director Balki's statement on the movie: "The challenge of "PAA" was to present Amitabh Bachchan minus everything we all know, love about and idenify with Amitabh Bachchan. Yes....it was a challenge for Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya, Paresh, Arundhati, the kids, the make-up artist, PC and me. But it was a challenge that finally had to be met by Amitabh Bachchan alone. Paa is a tribute to possibly the greatest actor that Indian cinema has ever produced and an example of how an actor can undo the very things that have made him an icon and will do something iconic"

We are lucky to have been born in an era where we are seeing the best works of a great actor! Can't wait to see Paa!