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. 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, Florida, United States (floridabronze@yahoo.com)
RE:The magic of Amitabh Bachchan - A different view!
by Saurabh Sahai on Mar 06, 2007 09:30 AM
This is the most intelligent message board posting I have ever seen not only on rediff but all the web sites I have ever visited and that carried a column on AB.
Re: The magic of Amitabh Bachchan - A different view!
by Sudip Mitra on Jun 01, 2009 03:12 PM
It cant't get better than this. Remove the comments of so called film critics of Rediff and put this up as a permanent feature of Hall of Fame of Messages. Where were you all these days. Keep posting more frequently.
RE:The magic of Amitabh Bachchan - A different view!
by Hemlata Verma on Mar 14, 2007 04:07 AM
u are absolutly write n i must congtarualte u they way u ve expressd urslef n the way u defined amitabh bacchan n his journey. amazing........
I admire Mr. Bachchan. He is a great actor, I living Legend. Not only that, i think he is great human being also. So humble inspite of his popularity and wealth.
Seriously, how old are you guys? 5 or 6 years old? Why are you in the Entertainment section if you don't want to read about celebrities. If you want to see or read info about freedom fighters or politicians or whoever check those sections.
It's like you guys have nothing better to do. Very happy for her, she got a pic with the Big B. Leave it at that!
