Friday, February 18, 2011

Smothered with affection from all the extended family BogB


Bhopal, MP     Feb 17 , 2011     Thu 11 : 20 PM
Smothered with affection from all the extended family on my efforts at my profession through yesterdays photographs, I gave the entire basket another look and wondered how graceful you all become when matters concerning the blog, the pictures, the individual behind it, come up ahead. It is and has always been embarrassing, but it still haunts me with equal intensity. And many that have studied my behavior through the several years, insist and are completely convinced, that this is a smart and very measured put on by me, to garner greater affection and admiration.
Really now ! Garnering admiration and affection are subjective terms. I would garner affection and admiration with the end result of my film. With its success, with the completeness of its efforts. With a portrayal that seemed to have been given reward, and attention from others. I admire those that follow others, for the mere sake of following, not of wanting to endeavor, but to be able to pass comment, for they are the truest form of what I would never wish anyone let alone me, to be.
What a huge amount of energy is wasted in deviously designing something from nothing, in order that some ‘copy’ could be made of it, to perhaps enhance the remuneration of the informer. And no care or thought ever to be given to the consequences of what that may do to the victims. It is a sad state and one that needs to be addressed. I am not keen to do it here or do it now , but it is something that shall soon be taken up, simply because of the faith, that many among us have begun to express on the inconsequential effect of this completely useless and uninteresting procedure.
Being under the constant and immediate attention of the people that are making the making of a film, one would be hard pressed to find the truth. In isolation perhaps, true. But in the presence and company of others, difficult.
We are too conscious of what the other will feel and say, when in fact the other is not affected or even knowledged of the situation. It is the coldness with which we, from our early years of blank and blind innocence,  send the right signals and soon enough all else threatens to fall in place. But how many have the patience and strength of conviction of generally doing the work of his/her Master, proven correct or even accepted ? None ! None whatsoever !!
Ahhh ! I think too deeply on matters that should not really be given the importance of mention, let alone discussion.
The scene today at the location for ‘Aarakshan’ was intense , long and exhausting. It contained the inputs of a battery of characters, all on high voltage, not in speech and volume, but in internal thought and process. And whenever we get into that mode, there is a fair amount of exhaustion. Woozy in the head with all those powerful lights and hundreds of humans involved in the scene, it takes a awhile to function normally. But from what I observe and what others do too, all seems to be going well now.
I was endeavoring today to try something novel. To be in writing mode on the laptop and induced with sleep, nod off over the computer, but awaken within short intervals, to write just everything that was transpiring in the mind as a result of the situation I find myself in. Or perhaps just anything. Anything that was entering the mind, in thought or dream ! It would not make sense, but it would perhaps give an inkling of what was transpiring inside ourselves. Its almost like that famous movie out of Hollywood called perhaps ‘Straight Line’, which recollected the lives of a few medical professionals, young and in internship, who have the expertise to medically induce death to an individual and then revive him again and then to record what the person had to state on the experience while he was in fact dead. Quite a fascinating film it was.
I was wondering if that could be replicated in a sense, but with different ingredients ! Nothing quite a strong as manufactured medical induced death and then revival, but, instead of death, sleep.
My Father wrote a piece, of a short blank verse poem, on Death and Sleep -
It is titled ‘Rehearsal’ and goes as follows -
Sona,
Marne ka rehearsal hai
Jo insaan har din karta hai,
Par maut ke stage par aate
Darta hai ~
Sleep is the rehearsal of death, that mankind indulges in every day. Yet fears to come on the stage of death.
We practice and rehearse death in a sense, everyday when we go off to sleep. Yet are scared to appear on the stage of death.
Worth thinking !! Would it not be wonderful to rehearse this everyday but have the strength to come on the stage and deliver when asked. So what I would write in sleep induced state would it not reflect a sample of my ‘rehearsals’. And would that not in a sense give us a window on what actually transpires when our souls leave us - a question that has been in the minds of the human race ever since its evolution. What really happens to us when we are gone. Where actually do we go ? Where are these gates of Heaven and Hell ? Is there truly this great big man with a white beard that welcomes us ?
Hmmm … ! Better to let this remain with the sleep induced rehearsals and not go further. Better to not appear on that ’stage’. Better … For none of us will ever get to know what it is. And none of us is ever going to come back and recount it for us !
Source:  Big B Blog bigadda

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi BigB



Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi
Greetings to all for this day ! may there always be peace and fulfillment, happiness and joy, friendship and togetherness ever .. may this auspicious day bring into our hearts the love and blessings of the Almighty .. may we respect each other in all faiths … may we be considerate accommodating and in belief .. and may we all most importantly show compassion and unity …
It is the 16th of February 2011 and a day we in the family remember with great happiness - the wedding of Shweta to Nikhil … now 14 years in the making ! Goodness ! I can just about remember her at age 14 .. how and when did she become marriageable and with children of 13 and 9 !
The excitement in the house and the preparations and the laughter and activity, such vivid memories of all that we went through. The Sangeet and the songs that we constructed. The leg pulling of our Samdhi’s, the little games that the groom is made to play with the bride, all the rituals carried out with finesse and care and the blessings of my parents and of Nikhil’s family too. All captured for posterity on film and one that we often glimpse through at times.
And then the pain of parting - parting with a part of you. Her laughter and wit and presence suddenly gone. The house silent and empty. Her presence now filling the hearts of her new and permanent home now as a Nanda. From one Ma and Pa, she now has another Mummy and Papa. She loses her surname that she used for so many years and adopts the name of her husbands family and becomes their daughter in law. Her home is now her husbands.
Women ! Such a fascinating journey they lead as wives and Mothers and as, just women ! One just sits back and wonders in awe !
And now for some visuals of what I do for a living … ‘Aarakshan’ in Bhopal





not enough towels to dry up before the next shot ..



with the lovely Deepika Padukone, who plays my daughter ..
It was a day with daughters today. Slipping in and out from the real to the unreal. Shweta on one end and Poorbi my daughter in the film Deepika on the other ..
The scenes are getting more and more intense as the days pass by and we are all beginning to get in to the characters with each passing day. A fascinating tale now begins to evolve - the written word, the drama of the situations, the relevance of so much more than just enacting another one. Somewhere in the middle of all this you actually begin to feel as part of the moment being described by the screenplay. The early few days were left entirely to the directions of the captain. We were merely followers, dutifully following at times without believing what we were representing. And then as times passes by, the involvement of the surroundings, the meanings of the words and the situations gradually start falling into place. And now you so wish if we could possibly redo all those earlier scenes again, to better to improve what had been done in a somewhat unknown state. It shall never happen. But what is the harm in expressing it.
It always happens ! After it is all done and canned, you shall wake up in the middle of the night one day and get it all right. The lines the expressions the moves and a deeper understanding of the character. And then as you sit in the dark hall on the day of the preview or the public premier, you wish you could just dissolve under the chair and not be seen at all. Fear, embarrassment, apprehension, a feeling of incompetence and a strong desire to give it all up, because it had not been done well enough by you !!
Ah ! Well ! Someday we shall get it right … and if not, then thank you for the support and love ..
It rained here suddenly last night and early in the morning. There was a smile on the trees as you drove past them. That earthy smell of the ground that has been parched for months, drew deep into the nostrils, bringing back those memories of the days spent in my place of birth, Allahabad. A fresh cool breeze greeted us on the open set in the morning and the watchers on the rooftops from adjoining buildings kept getting their strong dose of screams and shouts from the production assistants …
This is such a fascinating profession. Reliving reenacting recreating each and every nano second of the day spent in the proximity of the camera, with the lights and the Clap and the Action … and then Cut !!
Time to end for the day. The canned film shall now be sent for processing with an adequate file of paper describing the activities of the day by the artist. In a day or two, the first prints for editing shall be out. And after numerous hours and hours of putting the final shape to the story, the music score shall be worked upon and the background and the songs shall creep in and then the final with credit titles will roll. After spending days weeks months years of labor, finally the product shall be out and introduced to the audience. And within a couple of minutes, a verdict shall appear - good bad poor indifferent !
Judgement shall be passed in 2 hours, by the people and critics alike. And all the suffering that would have gone through in the making shall be washed away in one fell stroke !
God ! I love this profession .. it is so finite !!
Love to you and more ..
abhindi
Amitabh Bachchan
Source:  Big B Blog bigadda

Dearest ones of my beloved FmXt



Bhopal, M.P       Feb 16, 2011        Wed  10 : 22 AM
Dearest ones of my beloved FmXt,
I feel so miserable at not having written substantially last night and to have ever expressed the thought that I was not up to writing to you. This is not me and this is not done. I have the desire as always to communicate with you and you should never ever believe that I shall ever desist. Sorry. It must have been my troubled back, the late hour and my bobbing head, sleep ridden. But I am up and on to work now and the back is fine and the spirits high and the energy good. So the first thing I wished to do was to get on to my extended family and let them know of my dire circumstances which kept me from putting across to you, what I long to do at the end of every day.
I must rush now. They wait for me at the shoot and i must not disturb the discipline. More later of course and with love and more …
AB

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Big B and Sonakshi Sinha signed for Housefull 2?


Big B and Sonakshi Sinha signed for Housefull 2?

The cast of Sajid Nadiadwala's Housefull 2 directed by Sajid Khan seems to be getting bigger by the day. While it is known by now that the film stars Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, John Abraham, Asin, Jacqueline Fernandez, Chunky Pandey, Randhir and Rishi Kapoor, the maker have now managed a coup of sorts by signing none other than Amitabh Bachchan for a pivotal role in the film.

The buzz is that Big B's dates are available only post July which has resulted in the schedule ofHousefull 2 being a bit delayed. Besides Big B, the search for the third heroine also seems to have ended and the word doing the rounds is that it's none other than Sonakshi Sinha who has bagged the plum role. 


With a plethora of actors signed for this one, this 'House' is already getting 'Full' real fast.

IN NEWS BH

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

BigB at Aishwarya Rai's sister-in-law Shrima Rai's Godh Bharai

Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shrima Rai, Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai's sister-in-law Shrima Rai's Godh Bharai
Aishwarya Rai, Jaya Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shrima Rai, Abhishek Bachchan