Monday, December 5, 2011

Amitabh Bachchan attends the wedding of Mulayam Singh's son

Amitabh Bachchan attends Mulayam Singh Yadav son's wedding



Amitabh Bachchan attends Mulayam Singh Yadav son's wedding
PTI | 05:12 PM,Dec 04,2011
Etawah, Dec 4 (PTI) Prominent personalities, including Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and ADAG chairman Anil Ambani, will today attend the marriage of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Prateek Yadav at Sefai. Bachchan arrived with his wife Jaya Bachchan and Anil Ambani followed by chairman of Dalmia group Sanjay Dalmia and chairman and managing worker of Sahara India Pariwar Subrata Roy Sahara. Prateek is getting married with Aparna, daughter of a senior journalist Arvind singh Bisht. PTI CORR AVA PG




Amitabh & Abhishek Bachchan from Aishwarya Rai Baby Tweets to Dev Anand Passing



Amitabh & Abhishek Bachchan from Aishwarya Rai Baby Tweets to Dev Anand Passing


Actors Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan went from putting up tweets to fans about Aishwarya Rai's baby, to more somber messages. They have now tweeted about the passing of fellow actor Dev Anand. Anand passed away at age 88 on Saturday night due to cardiac arrest, shocking many.

While Aishwarya Rai baby tweets were among the recent messages by the two Bachchan male elders, they have now become saddened as they've learned of their fellow actor's passing away. Amitabh Bachchan, who goes by the handle @SrBachchan, tweeted the news just recently saying :

T 579 - An era has come to an end .. Dev Anand leaves a void never perhaps to be filled again .. his never give up belief, his joy of life !

His son, Abhishek Bachchan, was tweeting a photo about the Chelsea soccer team winning their game earlier, and showed off an image of what could be an outfit for Beti B. Abhishek has also just learned of the unfortunate news about Dev Anand as well. He tweeted :

Shocked to read of the passing of Dev Saab. Such a great man and actor. A symbol of positivity.

Just as Abhishek Bachchan and his father Amitabh were welcoming in the life of their newborn family member Beti B, they have now learned of the passing of a fellow actor. It goes to show just how precious life is, and that is beginning and ending on a daily basis. Deepest condolences are expressed to all family, friends, and fans of Dev Anand upon his passing.

41,000 ft in air flying passed Udaipur, closing in on Ahmedabad, on way to Mumbai


41,000 ft in air flying passed Udaipur, closing in on Ahmedabad, on way to Mumbai
Dec 4/5,   2011          Sun/Mon   12 : 38 AM

I fly the skies for most of the country. A wedding in Uttar Pradesh, a small town, distant from the wonders of the metro city, but independent and proud of its selfless devotion to its people and its circumstances.
The reverence and respect that pours out is astonishing. Their culture and their upbringing, the ethos of generations along with its age old traditions, bind them with unshakeable resolve. Their belief and their trust once connected remains so. And that is what is so admirable.

The visit is short, but full of deep regard. There is appreciation of great intensity in their attitude and then before long, we are away from them. Flying off to the capital, New Delhi. The weather in the northern regions is brisk and cool. As you cruise along, parallel to the Himalayas in the distance, the white majesty of the entire range can been seen from the windows of the aircraft. They are miles away, but since the day is clear, the range seems close by.
The crowding around at the airport and the extent of the mobile cameras is noticed to be of greater volume. It is the immediate effect of the aftermath of KBC. Always happens with celebrities. A recent successful film release and the attitude changes from the polity. Failure brings an aloofness which is disturbing. But such is the life of us all in the profession of the creative world.

The early morning news of the sudden passing away of Dev Saheb, Dev Anand has brought about a huge vacuous sense. One never associated him with death, it was always about life every time you saw him. It takes a while for us all to contend with the loss and there is a silence after the initial shock that follows. How does one really view situations such as these. No answers and no comments. The entire day is filled by requests from the media for reactions. I have tweeted about it and since I am on a plane I ask them to use that for their reports. By the evening the channels are playing all his clips from the most memorable and remarkable contributions he made to the film industry, paying particular interest to his great love for music and the fantastic repertoire of his melodies in film after film.
He spoke with the speed of knots, he moved rapidly even when he was not supposed to. His defiance of his age was legendry. His verve and his intention to keep moving were so inspirational. His positivity about life and living were examples to be emulated. And now suddenly he was gone. It just does not identify.
His attitude and singular style in his performances, would get us out of our hostel beds in the middle of the night, jump the boundary walls of the college to the nearest film theatre repeatedly, just to witness the magic of his charm and energy. And on our way back we would sing along with his songs, his deliveries of dialogue and create this wonderful world he had structured for us to be remembered forever.
I had last met him recently when he personally invited me for the premiere of his film. He was frail and weak, but still dressed in his inimitable style, young and modern and the strength of his attitude still with the same gusto.
He signified something that was endless, a continuity which we all took as a given.
On hearing the news the immediate reaction was one of disbelief. Disbelief not at his passing away, but disbelief in the fact that there could ever be an end to him.
An era of the most illustrious period of the Indian Film Industry has been robbed of its most influential icon. And even writing these words seems so insufficient.
On twitter someone wrote  a magnificent ode. Dev Anand died at age 88. No that is incorrect. He was not 88 years old. He was 4 times 22 years old !!


Meeting the young Agastya in Delhi soon after his annual day performance, which was why we detoured on our way back, was such a joy. Full of beans and full of the latest on technology and computers and apps and mobile phones. God bless him !

The undercarriage seems to have been released. An indication that we are about to land. I shall say my ‘night nights’ here for, when I get home I shall transfer from Word to WordPress and Post and …. Slumber.


Love to all and more much more …

Amitabh Bachchan

A day filled with emotions that differ .. emotions in contrast, in opposite directions


Jalsa , Mumbai          Dec  3/4,  2011            Sat/Sun 1 : 27 AM  

A day filled with emotions that differ .. emotions in contrast, in opposite directions .. a celebration of a relative as he steps into 90 years of his life and in another, one that has passed away. How does one balance the two. Its almost like being on camera with tears in one shot and after it is over to laugh it off as you head towards your vanity. The harsh reality of this situation is at times the most difficult to handle.
My daughter’s in laws Mamaji turns 90 and there is greeting and gifts and well being and prayers for a long life. Of meeting old friends of age and recollecting old times and the spirit of our care free existence amidst laughter and fun and music at an exclusive locale in town.
On the other almost simultaneously a family like Pratap Sharma, of voice and drama and writing and commentary and so many other gifted acquisitions of self, passes away and we gather to mourn his departure. But it must be said .. the family decides to ‘celebrate’ his going away rather than mourn his death. The body may have left but he was still there they believe. And such a warm and strong feeling that leaves within us ; gracefully accepted by all in a spirit of acknowledging his ‘presence’ as it were.
Life is strange and humans like us even stranger. We adjust each moment with the strength of conviction and belief. We alter ourselves almost in the different shades of a chameleon, to camouflage that which we do not desire, by readjusting our demeanor and countenance to suit situations. Expressions, faces and moods change with the rapidity of neutrinos, the latest discovery that is being calculated to move that fraction of a degree, faster than light. Where does it all emanate from is a question that has troubled me for long. I was so immersed in the extreme changes that actors go through during the course of a day on set, that I never ever paid attention to the fact that humans go through more and much more perhaps in the 24 hrs of a day in their life and existence. Our minds and our heads must be made of such stern stuff. Harboring the vagaries that confront us, adjusting to circumstances that regularly torment and torture us and still having the gall to conduct ourselves with aplomb, must and is a remarkable feat.
We are special, of that there is little doubt, but how much, is what is unknown. I fear there shall be a day in the not too distant a future, when, at the rate with which inventions prevail, we shall all be functioning in a manner that may never require the assistance of technology. Technology itself would have evolved itself to such great level that it would become a part of us rather than the other way round.
Today we log in and restore for posterity the stem cells required to determine and resolve ailments which may occur, but without the fear of it causing any harm to the system. The prolongation of life itself is against the tenets of nature. We have lived and learnt that nature must never be tampered with. So how does the inventor of today feel towards means that defy them. There must be sense of great power to know that an individual can have the capacity to control its own longevity. Or for that matter any other matter.

At 2 in the morning such thoughts defeat the desire to turn in and follow what has been prescribed by that which we fight against .. to learn and discover, apprehend, resolve and admit to the generations that are still to come that they were and we are such ordinary beginners in this most fascinating days of life that we have had privilege to live in …

Good night dear ones … there is travel tomorrow somewhat early .. and so to bed !!

Amitabh Bachchan    

Pardon my brief communications for the past few days


Jalsa , Mumbai             Dec  2/3 ,  2011                   Fri/Sat  12 : 55 AM
 Pardon my brief communications for the past few days and their ‘inconsequential content’. As the day progresses and the events unfold and the rabid talks on several social mediums appear, I am tempted to respond with equal fire ! I restrain myself because of the futility of response. Some one rightly advised ‘those that hate you shall never change, despite any amount of justification given, so why waste energy on them’ .. I think it to be sane, this mode of thinking, but am at times eager to return a taunt with not just another taunt but with a firm hand of conviction and strength.
Years of subjugation, insult, unjustified accusation, false and preposterous allegations does make one immune and anesthesia prone, but ” when the blast of war blows in our ears, then stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard favored rage ; Then lend the eye a terrible aspect, let it pry through the portage of the head like the brass canon .. ” …. and Shakespeare and Henry the V, begin to stir the emotions and the … unmentionables !!
Restraint is the proposed advice. But would it be advised if a wrong were to be documented for posterity. This generation is young and unaware of fact as presented in real time. They were not born or were too young to register. To keep their senses intact and in recognition of the truth becomes mandatory for those that have been blessed to live long enough to correct and produce the right. The written word has been the record for history through ages. The internet and the air waves of modern invention had dominated it in our times. Tomorrow there may be fresh inventions. But history and fact and reality of the times gone by will not change with the reality of fresh inventions. They will in fact draw from the past and the past shall, be documented in what the present feels about them. It becomes mandatory therefore for me to rectify the wrong in order that the future does not have the courage to carry forward incorrect information. History must be relevant when fact shall be relevant, else its incorrectness shall forever be an embarrassment to mankind.
I often have given example of my personal at times on such matters. The Times of India brought out a wonderful coffee table book on 150 years of its front pages and I was fascinated to read about the happenings of the times when I was not born. I believed what I read. To me it was fact, documented, sealed and delivered. Until … I came upon the present times and the headlines of accusations against me. It spurred me on to fight and to clear the name of my family, which I did in the courts of the highest authority. Now when the history of the TOI on its front pages shall be reprinted in years covering 350, my great great great grandchildren will be able to take pride in deciphering that the accusations were wrong and unjustified !!
Today when some, endearingly ask me not to involve myself in the somewhat uncalled for retorts, I listen to them for a while in silence, but when the silence begins to have sound, it is time to ‘stiffen the sinews’ !!
I shall give more intricate details in my next, for tonight has already gone past the hour of retirement. It closes in to the hour of 2 AM , and that is not recommended nature for even those that wish to ” summon up their blood … ” !!
I leave then with happiness and joy and wish the same for you .. you who may be enlightened, encouraged and engrossed, or some who may feel tormented … for I do know that there are many that are .. !!

Love …
Amitabh Bachchan 

I am lethargic and lazy and without direction


Jalsa , Mumbai               Nov/Dec  1,  2011       Wed/Thu  12 : 30 AM

I am lethargic and lazy and without direction … I am just I am … Absence of an occupation that has triggered my life for the past 42 years, creeps in slowly but surely, to meet certain requirements that are not essential, for the moment at least. There is nobility in acceptance. There is sanity in the acceptance of fault. There is tolerance to a flash of waywardness. But this … I am not so sure what it is and what it means.

So … what did you think of that opener ? Somewhat abstract and not truly in the spirit of the Blog was it ? A safe beginning marks your way and path with fresh ideas and subjects to dwell upon. I haven’t an inkling of what those ideas could possibly be. But so long as I am getting the word count at the bottom of this page increasing proportionately, I do not think of there being any problem. The longer it takes to get to that idea the better for me. It is a struggle for me when I sit me self down to address an expectant Ef, with all that has transpired for the day for me. Or if not that, since it can become diaryish, just to chatter on about endless matter which may or may not eventually make any sense. I mean lets face it .. what has really been put across so far, that could possibly be recognized as sensible. But then that is the trick, is it not – to be faltering my way to the end of the page without having disclosed anything at all.
Is there in the real sense any thing at all that can be disclosed. Most of this banter has been fairly open and wide angled has it not ? Wide angled ? Thats a peculiar term ! Thats looking at life or events with a 18 or 24 mm lens, or worse the 9 mm, distortions and all …
Wide angles give impressions of space and width and a vastness which does not really exist, but can be made to look so, because of the density of the lens – a lens that has not been manufactured by nature, by man or woman or human ( just keeping the protocol right, before the ladies charge up objections ). Manufactured wideness gives impressions of that which is not visible with what we are endowed with at birth. Endowed ! Perhaps an incorrect word to use .. ‘born with’ would be more appropriate ! Change that would you please as you go along. I really do not have the patience and the time to delete and go back and highlight and select and shift to get the impressions right !!!
And so we muster courage and get movin’ on … as most modern day AD’s working on film projects at the ‘shoot’ would say when they would inform us that the shot that we just did, is fine and we are now ‘movin on’ to the next shot !! Complicated life this .. film making !!

But .. but … but …. seriously though, there has been some serious thought provoking meetings with possible makers and they are chuffed about their tales and hopes of starting a film soon. The problem lies with me really. My inconsistent nature and that horrid tag of long hours and time on decision making, does not give prospective makers the liberty to go ahead with the project ; go ahead with anything !
And so here I am just as complicated and uncertain as when the day began. Unable to take decision and formulate my need to get back in the studio, wherever it may be …

At the dining table interesting conversations on films and possible projects coming up, filled up the time. The family seemed as interested in my indecision as they did in their decisions for me. They sound encouraging and full of fresh hope, but they do know as do I that eventually it shall have to have personal approval. And that personal approval is taking a helluva long time to come to terms ..
Soooo ….
It comes the time to crawl back into bed, with that expectation that tomorrow will come with some fresh ideas .. they are essential for me to think so … and essential for the well wishers too. The gap that has arisen after the after of KBC has been expressed in strong terms and one must pay heed to it !!
Good night … and may you have pleasant dreams, of love and flowers and happiness and fulfillment. Mine these days are vivid and real but do not make any sense. They are not frightening or scary .. just vivid. And now having said that Messrs Dream Makers shall make sure tonight is filled with nothing else but that ..
Do take very good care of yourselves and do permit me the liberal license to write the inconsequential ‘bumphff’ that I have today … though I do believe that ‘there is something in it’ .. as Sanjay Leela Bhansali would often say on set, every time he saw a visual or a performance that seemed to touch him.
Now how on earth did I suddenly think of him !!?? See I told you …

Amitabh Bachchan

You rise early and take flight to Pune for ” English Vinglish the film


Jalsa , Mumbai         Nov 29/30 ,  2011               Tue/ Wed  12 : 41 AM

You rise early and take flight to Pune for ” English Vinglish ” the film being directed by Gauri, Balki’s wife, where I do a few lines in a barely a minute appearance with Sridevi ! Flights to Pune are short and quick. By the time you fasten your seat belt it is time to take it off again. At Jet, the personnel are polite and helpful in getting you to the plane as rapidly as possible, at times much to the annoyance of the regular in line travelers. Against my wishes, the hostesses push my bag, my security and my distanced position in the queue, to the front. This is annoying and wrong. I prefer standing in the line along with the others. Yes there are autographs to sign as you wait to be dressed down by that magical wand of the police security. Yes there are a zillion mobile cameras that get flashed into your face, unasked and impolite I think, but that is a reality now. The air belongs to no one, and they exercise their right to execute what they believe is in order. We must be the most recorded entities in the world ! Wherever you go there is some documentation of your movement, company and dress .. particularly the dress. These details find a most commendable exhibition in some of the magazines that cater to taste and style of celebrities. the comments have a vast range – from the style of the dress worn by the ladies to their handbags and shoes right down to their toe nail paint. The comments are generally critical and sarcastic in tenor – a stance that I would imagine forms the grit of what commercials it would attract. What the circumstances of the time of that moment captured, would be or reflect, is not really of concern to the designer of the page. So long as it draws attention of the reader it is passable and valued. Often have I desired to correct the unpleasant writings that appear along with the pictures, but were I to do that I would be spending all my time doing just that and nothing else. But I have reckoned that if there ever was to be battle on this front again, or facts raised for debate in whatever convenient medium, and were I to have opportunity to be a part of it, then would it most entirely be possible to counter many a million !
I would imagine some respect would be shown to a Blog that gets 1.5 million hits, a Vog that has 3.6 million subs and a twitter account where 16.3 lakh followers, cannot be just taken for granted. I notice often that I am soon becoming my own newspaper and column writer. What appears here is cleverly taken out, readjusted, reframed and reconciled to form a corner of the news on the last pages – a territory which is the right place for us ‘filmy types’ ! A minor distortion in the event detail, gets recorded for posterity and for the master computer of the media. Any reference thereafter on the subject is happily available at the press of a button and what follows next is what ‘the beauty of the written word is all about’ !!

So yes … Pune, that great city with immense character and poise and temperament is being used as the backdrop at their airport terminal for a scene. It is a quiet atmosphere. Everyone is doing their work diligently and in whispers. Its unnerving to find such an atmosphere on a film set, and it does possess the capacity to throw you out were you to disturb the peace so to say.
The plane ride though extremely short is not without its charm and color. The Captain, a lady, has walked across to me to welcome me on board, the air hostesses wish a mobile picture with them in the galley, and the foreigner sitting by my side, looks a bit bewildered in expression at this show of affection and quietly does ask the uniformed assistance who I am. I say this because in a silent plane, when you hear someone answer a question with your name, it is time to open the door of the aircraft and gently step out !
No matter how oblivious you may tend to be to the surroundings and what animated conversation has been initiated by you, you will always find it is the most difficult moment to look up beyond the newspapers you have now drowned your face into, when such occurrences take place.
The shoot is simple, the shots uncomplicated and Sridevi is her usual best. God bless her !
Back on the flight from the airport location, similar interest and activity gain prominence and the most practiced procedure of trying to avoid incessant crowding for autographs and pictures, is then quietly and most deliberately executed – nod off to sleep !! It works most of the time. Often not. Enthusiastic well wisher or fan shall come up to you, shake you up from your slumber and smile her smile into your face with … ” hello ! you are sleeping ? I want your autograph, but I have no paper or pen !”
Now this is a tricky situation ! Normally one would let out the most ugly scream, run up and down the aisle like a mad man, sit down finally and respond with, after several deep breathes ‘ will do it later when you have found suitable stationary ‘ !! Any other reaction even remotely away from this, would attract accusation of being egotistical, arrogant and rude and a minus one follower !!
Turmoils that an actor or celebrity goes through are written on golden rock. And one dare not challenge or try to rectify this. Swallow that pill, pay heed to the request, be humble and deft at final handlings and deplane on arrival.

It is time to deplane here and now too … and so it shall be !!
Look after yourself, be calm and confident in whatever you do, sleep well and give me the privilege of being with you tomorrow again .. with fresh thoughts and feelings …
My love as before and after too …

Amitabh Bachchan       1:35 AM !

First the ugly and then the not so ugly


Jalsa , Mumbai                   Nov 28,  2011                 Mon 11 : 30 PM
 First the ugly and then the not so ugly !
There is news that has come to my knowledge of meetings being arranged after payment of certain sums of money ! The lure of being in a situation to pay up and be around with me, is an appalling condition. To those that may have contributed to this gibe may I just say that I am certainly not for sale. Certainly not for my well wishers and in particular my Ef. This is a preposterous situation. Those that may be falling in with this be aware that no such condition shall ever exist. Those that contemplate such ugliness, be warned. The consequences of such a depraved practice shall be most severe. This is an unconditional warning !!

The not so ugly is the desire to thank all the Ef for their grateful wishes and blessings to the memory of my Father on his birth anniversary. There shall always be insufficient time and space to put in writing all that he represented and believed in. The quality and lyricism of his writing, the depth of his own philosophy and the integrity of his beliefs. Poets and poetry have an endless life. Ages after they have left us there shall be meaning in what they left behind and it shall be our prerogative to discover analise and understand to its fullest, what all of that meant to us.

A strange lethargy creeps upon me from the early hours of the morning. It deprives me of energy and action, of speech and mobility. And as I sit and wonder what it could possibly be, I develop a gentle hint within, that probably spells ‘inactivity’. Work is the adrenalin for continuity and maybe the regions that require to be refueled with that chemical, need to be channelized now.
I must admit that the moment I did ponder over the thought, I could feel a physical change overcoming my earlier condition. It is time for me to meet up with prospective projects and succumb to the visions that they behold for me. It is time to step out and be in the environs that tickle and provoke action. Action not of the kind that deals with guns and battle, but a battle of another kind ; the kind that creates a swell within you as you hear that strain of music or be a part of good writing, film and painting.
I tweeted about it in the early hours and many that were contemplating a meeting on work were quick to respond in the positive. The medium of communication has become such an important aspect of our lives. Within seconds of its expression the entire world comes to grips with it and not just learns of its presence but shall have comment and solution or criticism, racing around the air waves with a rapidity of the newly discovered neutrinos, that profess to be moving a shade faster than light !
I wonder then, when we are so vividly connected with each other ; connected as never before in the history of the universe, why are we today most disconnected with each other. The divisions and anger directed towards humans has perhaps never been so acute. Faith and religions talk thrive on the meanings of peace and well being. They all propagate togetherness, belief and respect for the other, love, forgiveness and compassion for each other. Yet the human in its entire history perhaps has never been as divided as before.
It is a painful situation and one that one sits and sees passing by without any attempt to unite in a universality which speaks oneness and tolerance.
The speed of intolerance, the desensitization of humanity in almost all aspects of its working has been an alarming truth and it is so overpowering that there is little else that can be thought of. Sanity exists, but in such small proportion that it does not take much time for it to get polluted too. Who to follow, who to believe and who to trust has become an incomprehensible metaphor. Those that speak and believe in it sound sincere and earnest, but I do not know why we suspect them of some insincerity. May be our natures have undergone such turmoil and untruths, that we are now immune to all that can be termed as good and graceful. Maybe in time these delusions shall repair, readjust and present themselves in greater earnest and with complete clarity. Maybe …
We pray and hope that they do …

The chimes of the clock approach minimum ring .. it relates to the smaller tones on the watch, the lesser numbers .. at night these lesser numbers denote lateness and bedtimeness .. !!
Good night dear ones .. you make life earnest and truthful and with hope …


Amitabh Bachchan