Amitabh Bachchan Akshay Kumar At Ragini MMS Premiere

And the day begins again after the night before .. a night filled with the essence

Jalsa , Mumbai  May 15, 2011       Sun  11 : 11 PM

And the day begins again after the night before .. a night filled with the essence, genius and remarkable wizardry of a poet and musician and philosopher and thinker - Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore ! It has been quite an experience to have been in such close connect with one who we heard and continue to revere. With one we knew of in his greatness, but never had opportunity to study and feel the depth and flow of his thought. What a large portion of my life has gone by and what a large portion of opportunity has flown by the river, without making any effort to read learn and assimilate the greats of the world. Truly disappointed and frustrated with myself in this lapse of effort and desire.

But as they say, there is never ever a time to regret a start ready to be made. So the endeavor shall begin and perhaps now the meaning and the depth that needed to be understood, shall be with us instead.

The earnestness with which we have now initiated the promotions for ‘Bbuddah’ shall hopefully bring in the desired attention and focus to a film made with passion and a lot of energy. There are links now available to access the promotions that are now available and I shall put them down here :

For the posters ..

Facebook page

www.facebook.com/Bbuddah

And for the teasers ..

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http://www.youtube.com/Bbuddahthemovie

I do hope that you shall give me your feed back ..

Another Sunday has gone by, but one which was devoted to constructive work on the post work of ‘Bbuddah’ and for it to be completed by certain time lines because the date for its release has now been desperately cued in for July 1st ..

The promotion of KBC starts simultaneously ans some very interesting stills and acts for the Av have been designed, shot and getting ready for telecast. For example as in the above ..

The Sunday crowds were there again and this as I was on my way back from dubbing some key scenes of ‘Bbuddah’ for the promo and its quite a day in the life of the Mumbaikar, for, he likes the idea of getting by the sea with his family, to beat the heat of the entire day. On their way back they drop by at a certain house called Jalsa, that just happens to be en route !!!

got to rush

Amitabh Bachchan

The day started at 6 am and has just ended

Jalsa , Mumbai   May  14/15,  2011        Sat/Sun  1 : 12 AM

The day started at 6 am and has just ended. There were promos to be shot for Kaun Banega Crorepati, since it goes on air soon. Perhaps by August as against the earlier year when it was in October/November. Its also of a longer duration this time around. Promos are the order of the day today, whether in film or Tv or any other communication venture. Its the promo that makes the difference. Gone are the days when we had faith and confidence in the product for it to speak for itself. Nope. As the young would say often these days. If you do not talk or sell it no one is interested. Marketing has opened up corporate offices where young entrepreneurs battle with circumstances and build plans on how a product a personality should be presented to the mass. A most exciting profession, but one that has never found favor with me, primarily because my sense of all this exalted jargon is miserably poor.

But in our modern era of film making its the ingredient of the promotion that decides for the audience which and what film they wish to see. I really do not think it to be improper at all. With the kind of exposure that entertainment through the various channels of communication, has brought to our homes, it would be most difficult to resist not going to a film, or conversely, deciding somewhat firmly which they would not want to see.

So the entire day was enveloped in shooting for the promos for KBC. In all about 15 to 20 of them were shot, along with Avinash Gowarikar’s still shoot. So you did a shot for the video, stepped down to the still, rushed down to the changing room, improvised in the corner of the floor, changed clothing and reported back for the next film. And this went on with each dress change … and there were quite a few. And when it was finally over drove straight across to Vishal and Shekhar’s studio to record a song for ‘Bbuddah’ and then … to execute a commitment to Sujoy Ghosh of ‘Alladin’ fame, by singing a portion of a song for his film ‘Kahani’, starring Vidya Balan.

One has and had heard ‘Ekla Cholo re’ a million times. Read and reread its words that oozed wisdom, strength, poetry and courage all at once, too. But may I just say that singing Rabindra Sangeet for the first time was the greatest revelation. The beauty of the language, the lyricism of the tune and its ‘dhun’ are outstanding. This particular, world famous number “Ekla Cholo” , expounding to all that if no one came to you on your calling, walk alone !! And what a fabulous song has been incorporated by V@S. Truly awesome and worthy of all award.

Singing for the track today you discover how inadequate you are to handle something created by Gurudev Tagore. Not just in words but also in its tune. It is by far one of the most unique compositions in the world of music. And being associated with it in some capacity has been nothing short of an honor.

While in the middle of the shoot, got a surprise visit from Deepika Paducone, who was shooting next door on another floor and dropped by to wish. She is such a warm person, and she was looking a million bucks. After the shoot of ‘Aarakshan’ she had gone to Tirupati and had very sweetly brought some ‘prasad’ for me and the family.

At the studio a while later, it was Vidya Balan who turned up along with Sujoy, who I think was showing her some rushes of the film they are doing together. Two leading ladies in one day !! That is quite remarkable ! Just got lucky I think ….

Somehow there is a most fulfilling feel to the day. I do not know what exactly is the reason. But I shall not put it beyond the Tagore song and its beauty. Simply so uplifting and …. difficult to find words to describe it !!

Amitabh Bachchan

The IPL in front of me the crowds and the excitement with which each city cheers for their team BigB

The IPL in front of me the crowds and the excitement with which each city cheers for their team BigB

Jalsa , Mumbai      May  9 , 2011         Mon 10 : 04 PM

The IPL in front of me … the crowds and the excitement with which each city cheers for their team … the efforts at the crease … the efforts on the field .. hard work, perspiration flowing … flags flying … blue, red, black … the cheer leaders breaking into song and dance in varied costumes .. the ‘hi mom’ screamers on close up television …

Such a deliberation every evening ! And when there is a ‘home alone’ situation, its very welcome .. bring on the couch, put up the legs, get that ‘khus’ cooler, sparse dinner in front of the Tv and … Shanouk protection !!

The dubbing for ‘Aarakshan’ is over ! Wanted to go hell for leather today, worked at it from early morning and then rounded it up after a short break to finish the film. So thats the entire film over in 6 days ! It took 2 months to shoot it ! Movie making !

It now seems probable that ‘Bbuddah’ even though started its shot after the shoot for ‘Aarakshan’ was over, has finished before. And .. now is set to be released before ‘Aarakshan’ too. ‘Bbuddah’ on July 1st, ‘Aarakshan’ on August 12th, my Mother’s birthday ! Two films after a long gap and two very different roles and films. The first a dramatic, fun, film. The latter more intense, topical, and edgy, very sincere and touching, on a topic and subject which many talk of behind closed doors but never outside.

As an actor I feel elated that there is diversity on offer. When you are nearing 70 it does become scarce … the offers. But the challenge that comes by in the offering is immense. There is an opportunity of getting characters to play that may have been not too easy to play when you were younger. Or even if there was an opportunity, the commerce did not allow it.

There is a feeling at times that an actor needs to get an identification with the audience for him to be patronized by them. The audience at times wishes to form its own mind before it gets into the theatre. Perhaps when you surprise them they do not feel too kindly. So what happens to actors that wish to experiment with different genres during the course of their acting careers. I think the commerce becomes restrictive and more often than not actors not wishing to lose their viability or standing prefer to stay true to what worked before and continue to patronize it.

John Wayne, that icon of what American cinema was about, never got off his horse throughout his career. There are very few examples of actors that have played variety and never destroyed their commercial standing. But with age cinema does permit exceptions and they are fortunate that time does not destroy their viability. I think once you establish yourself, it does become a lot easier to change track. It is a risk, but then …

Maybe someday we should debate this with examples .. next time perhaps ..

An early night beckons and perhaps a lazy morning too, so I beg to be excused ..

Have a good night … and a better day

Amitabh Bachchan

Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan Set Demolished in Bhopal

Prakash Jha's film Aarakshan faced a setback when local authorities in Bhopal demolished the sets of this Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer.

In a release issued, Prakash gives his side of the story. "The demolition was ordered by the District Magistrate's office. Patchwork scenes with Deepika and Saif were scheduled to be shot on the set later this month. The set that has been demolished included an entire bungalow that belongs to the character played by Bachchan in the film and parts of the tabela, where informal schools were set up in the film.

This particular set was spread over an acre and a half of land. The filmmaker claimed that he was unaware that the set was constructed on disputed property, "I feel even though the demolition had to go through, the authorities knew we had constructed only temporary structures for the purpose of shooting. Why demolish it? It would have been dismantled within a month. Everyone in Bhopal knew it was a set. The demolition has definitely upset our plans."