All the fans standing outside 'Pratiksha' waiting for his darshan did not translate into money when Amitabh was down and needed it most. When Amitji lay in financial ruin, the magic was lost. The money was gone. Fans deserted him in droves. Amitabh was alone. (Mein aur meri tanhaayi)
Just when all looked lost, in walked a starry eyed Amar Singh and introduced hope, and the Ambani connection into Amitji's life (and those large superstitious rings on his fingers.) The success of KBC that followed, rekindled his celebrity, fan following, and brought endorsements, movie offers - and wealth - back into Big B's life.
It may be difficult for us fans to comprehend but most of Amitji's assets today are essentially post KBC (and post ABCL bankruptcy). All the block busters - including Deewar and Sholay - from his golden years, and nostalgic dewy eyed fans like us, dont translate to money on his balance sheet. We are mere Goodwill! ("Oof tumhare oosul, tumhare adarsh. Kis kaam ke hai tumhare is oosul jo ek waqt ki roti tak nahi bana sakta?")
The hard knocks of life taught him that we fans are fickle. Here today, gone tomorrow. It is money, that keeps his - much like our - life going.
Amitji strode the world of cinema churning blockbusters for the best of 4 long decades! He left us spell bound all these years making us feel like Alice in wonderland. Every time we went to the theaters and looked at the silver screen he gave us one magical performance after another. He rarely failed us. He gifted us some of life's greatest moments. And some of our fondest memories.
At 64, and with time running out, Amitabh realizes that his best years are behind him. He has more years lived, than left.
All good things in life come to an end. However hard he tries, he may never be able to produce another Deewar or Sholay. Not even one last time. Not even for us.
All the great dialogue writers, sriptwriters and directors of his hey days are no longer around. Some passed away, others packed and left. The hey days themselves have long gone by. Times have changed. Tastes have changed. People have changed. The industry itself had changed. Even the reigning Shahenshah of Bollywood has changed!!
All good things in life come to an end. Amitabh has accepted this reality.
One thing, however, hasn't changed - our expectations. Our expectations of Amitabh Bachchan.
Perhaps it is time we changed too.
Lets just enjoy Amitji's talents, voice, songs, his mere presence, the happiness of seeing him on TV and films while we still can. In addition to being his, and our, passion - his acting also happens to be his livelihood. Lets not begrudge him that by holding his every role against our stringent moral expectations.
Lets celebrate and enjoy Amitabh while we still can.
- Setu Madhavan, United States (floridabronze@yahoo.com)
RE:The magic of Amitabh Bachchan - A different view!
by anahita antia on Jul 30, 2007 01:46 PM
whats the big deal in that they have money they can afford n buy thigns y shd we b bothered yaar
if vnod chopra paid AB his market price there would not have been any of this. instead he signs him for a token amount of re .1 and is inspired to give him a RR of rs. 3.5 crore or so. thereby, amitabh doesnt pay the tax and chopra gets free airtime and publicity which obviously coincides with his movie release. BRilliant PR work. ...i would not be surprised if the RRoyce phantom given is being dsicounted by RR co itself, for it was page 1 news! once again taalis for the PR !
Unfortunately we Indians are very bad in Charity. May be Amitabh Bachan is not different. Why he should donate his earned money? Unfortunately GOD has made this word so unequal that, some people dont even get food for their hunger and others dont know what to do with their easy earned money. We should bring up our kids such way that they should be more compassionate towards less fortunate. Amithabh Bachans or Lakshmi Mittal's should not be a role model for them at least in these aspect. Let the same god which made them filthy rich, give some enlightenment as how to help less privileged.
Unfortunately we Indians are very bad in charity. May be Amitabh Bachan is not different. Why he should donate his earned money? Unfortunately GOD has made this word so unequal that, some people dont even get food for their hunger and others dont know what to do with their easy earned money. We should bring up our kids such way that they should be more compassionate towards less fortunate. Amithabh Bachans or Lakshmi Mittal's should not be a role model for them at least in these aspect. Let the same god which made them filthy rich, give some enlightenment as how to help less privileged.
RE:Let god bless all !!!
by seema upreti on Feb 13, 2007 06:52 PM
Let god bless all !!! by on Feb 10, 2007 11:16 AM | Hide replies
Unfortunately we Indians are very bad in charity. May be Amitabh Bachan is not different. Why he should donate his earned money? Unfortunately GOD has made this word so unequal that, some people dont even get food for their hunger and others dont know what to do with their easy earned money. We should bring up our kids such way that they should be more compassionate towards less fortunate. Amithabh Bachans or Lakshmi Mittal's should not be a role model for them at least in these aspect. Let the same god which made them filthy rich, give some enlightenment as how to help less privileged.
Many messages which have had a no of replies have been deleted...I like reading the comments more than the news...Avoid this harsh moral policing...Abusive words should also be allowed as long as they are relevant and make sense..
All of this is not AB or Mr Chopras fault...We pay them millions for something like acting which even Jr Bachhan can do... We worship our stars like heros...We pay hundreds of rupees to watch their movies becuause our own lives are dull...Recently I heard SRK gets Rs 280 crocre for hosting KBC...What a pity, in a country like India...I mean I am not jealous... Neither do I want cars like these...I truly appreciate his acting, charm and personality but since STAR has so much money and can donate SRK so much what else will he do other than buying expesnsive cars and rolling in luxury... India is a country of fools (which includes myself) and will remain like this for centuries... Nothing much can be done about this... Govt also after collecting loads of taxes does not know how to manage the money...The system here can only glorify those who are already rich.. It is anti poor and they need to be supressed n illtreated for the whims and fancies of a few...The line "Its my money, I do what I want with it" has done more harm than good to society...Bill Gates n Warren Buffet have already donated their billions back to society...Unfortunately our actors are far too dumb to do anything like this n can only mint money with their entertainment skills..Just ranting...hehehe
