Dishonesty with the profession is an unforgivable crime

Jalsa, Mumbai               July 20/21,  2013               Sun/Mon  2 : 08 am 

Dishonesty with the profession is an unforgivable crime. Agree to submit to your work, yes. But to agree to be dishonest in its approach, is not acceptable. I can do the most ridiculous films, and be asked to enact with the sincerity required of me as a professional. I will do it, if I have committed to the making of it. Once the camera is on, I cannot and will not express my displeasure, or discomfort. That is dishonesty. Conduct all that worries you as an artist before you go in front of the lens, but once there, it must be 110 % or come away … 

Deciding to perform in such manner is a performance in itself. There are times when the mind and the conscience do not allow the body to agree. To give the required signal, it needs impetus. Impetus is borne from the desire to do it well. I can only do justice to it if my conscience and will provokes me positively. If not it is best to lose the subject or matter or person or opportunity. More shall come. In large numbers. Its just that one cannot see them all at that moment. 

I could and will and may, lose an exciting opportunity. That is bad. But it would be worse if I lost my conscience too… 

Amitabh Bachchan

Disappointments rule the minds of those that have lived

Jalsa, Mumbai            July  19/20,  2013                 Sat/Sun  2 : 37 AM

Disappointments rule the minds of those that have lived in illusion and hope and trust and belief .. their absence has always given rise to adulterated thoughts of action. Just as adulteration destroys the purity of the element, thoughts when tampered with give rise to disillusioned countenance. Disillusioned minds are unhealthy .. in the journey of thought they destroy many other healthy elements .. losing an element through disappointment is vile .. it should never happen, but it does at times and it is a pity that they happen at times when they are least expected to. Life itself at times behaves unexpectedly, but life cannot be put to blame. Life moves irrespective of all else. It is our countenance that needs to change. To judge and assimilate before the deed. To be alert and indulgent. To be garnering understanding. Understanding not necessarily of the other, but of ourself. One way or the other we are at fault - it is best to admit that. Puts a stop to all argument and reasoning. So long as we know within the right and the correct, there is no fear. Fear is destructive. It eats in to the system gradually but surely. Allow it to feed and it shall devour you. Stand up to it and it shall stop in its tracks, at least for a while. And that is enough …

One needs a moment, an instance, that small measure of time to be able to bring in the desired change. A turn in the direction of the given course, in its curriculum, in its forbearing. Succumb once and there shall be permanency in all. It habit forms, not wanting to get off that track which runs parallel never meeting. If it were to meet, the object it carries with it would get derailed and fall, causing destruction. Why disturb that which has established itself. Why seek deliberate changes. Why attempt at all … why ?

I do not have legitimate answers .. I have conscience and sense .. sense belongs to me … it belongs to my inner self, much like my conscience. Destroy my conscience, destroy me … 

I need strength beyond the physical. That strength shall always prevail above all else ..

If I were to care, I should care for that which can bear the strength of my conscience. All else is banal and not worthy of mention ..

Amitabh Bachchan

The greatest of them all - Mohammed Ali BigB

Jalsa, Mumbai                July 18,  2013               Fri  11: 56 PM

With the greatest of them all - Mohammed Ali ! This at his residence in Beverly Hills, Los of Angeles … ! Along with Prakash Mehra and my younger brother Ajitabh .. he was fun to be with, mock punched me, spoke of films and acting and singing … perhaps my first trip ever to LA … loved it and still do … it has a unique character of its own and prides itself in that .. you get on to a street looking for a numbered house and discover that being on the street is not enough .. the number could be several miles away on same street .. the design of a modern city .. parallel lines of civilisation .. Jaipur was designed like that several decades ago, much before LA ..

‘ee hai bambai nagariya … ‘the street song from ‘Don’ … that awkward moment of song on the streets of Mumbai, early days and the embarrassment of it all … Chandra Barot the director of the film seeming to enjoy my condition .. the image at the back is Gateway of India, Mumbai .. built at the time of the official Royal visit to the city in welcome during the British Raj … 

varous Film Fare award functions and awards .. Shatrughan Sinha giving me one, Sunil Gavaskar another, another at the time of MGR, the thespian from Tamil cinema and its Chief Minister, and then with Nutan ji an award we won together ..fantastic moments collected and captured , but preserved by Moses Sapir .. thank you for this ..

My love to all as you ponder over the pictures and I retire to another day of waiting to start all over again ..

Amitabh Bachchan