Tanishq’s new campaign emphasises importance of 4C's

Tanishq’s new campaign emphasises importance of 4C's
Also reiterates brand's commitment towards trust
Tanishq’s new advertising campaign carrying a unique message – to educate consumers about how to assess the purity of diamonds through informing about the basic 4Cs of a diamond - cut, clarity, color and carat, is also noteworthy as it is being endorsed by Bollywood couple Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and Mrs. Jaya Bachchan. The brand believes its purpose to make consumers more aware stems from the fact that diamonds continue to be the most desired gems and a symbol of commitment. And is also growing as a popular gifting choice. Mr. Sandeep Kulhalli, Vice President, Tanishq said, “Understanding the lack of awareness amongst customers in choosing right diamonds, we conceived the idea of educating our consumers through the ad campaign.” He further added, “For this ad campaign we needed someone who would reflect the brand's stature and standing, someone who would connect with people across a wide spectrum. We zeroed in on Mr. and Mrs Bachchan for this ad, whose combined fan following varies across 6 to 60 yrs of age, and will be desired personalities to reach out to the people easily spreading awareness on this precious jewel.”

Talking about his association with the brand, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, said, “This campaign has helped me discover the finer details on buying diamonds besides giving me an opportunity to create awareness on this rarest and most beautiful form of the precious stone.” Adding the same line of thought Mrs. Jaya Bachchan, said “While working in this campaign I got to know that the genuinity of a diamond depends on the cut, clarity and carat of the diamond, irrespective of the size. It is important for each one of us to know these intricate details, especially if there are any inclusions or spots in them. Tanishq has brilliantly conveyed this message through the ad campaign”.

The campaign is scheduled to go on air in the mid week on April 2011.

NEWS diamondworld

Has it really been 3 years today I would never have known ! BigB

Jalsa,  Mumbai   April  18,  2011         Mon  11 : 56 PM

Has it really been 3 years today ? I would never have known ! That is a long time and a very longtime association with some of the most loving and caring family members.

Thank you for your presence and for your gratitude. You have stood by me in rough weather and fair. You have commented and encouraged, analyzed and assessed, laughed and cried, never ever giving me any need to address your discomfort or the ecstasy of your gain. This is indeed a superior class of people and I am proud to have been an initiator for all.

After the shoot got over for ‘Bbuddah’ later in the evening, it was back to the studio for recording song with Vishal and Shekhar. Music takes over all of us completely and time spent in that particular environment is like being born again - fresh, eager and with the brightest of elements on your side of the fence. Such fortunate people, music directors. Living day in and day out with their instruments, creating godly tunes, giving the much needed pleasure to the listener and adding so much to their own lives. Someday hopefully I shall have the great privilege and pleasure to add more years to my life as well. Till then I live in the marvel of those that occupy that space reserved for the gifted and talented.

I have an early call tomorrow and I need to get some rest before a rather cruel day ahead. So today shall be informative and short. For, the desire to write more comes from spending more time in front of the screen. And today unfortunately the screen has been erratic. Urging me to finish early so everyone can go off to sleep.

Abhishek, poor soul, has been laboring for the promotion of his coming film ‘Dum Maro Dum’. Each day a new city, new people, new platforms from which to propagate. We never had this facility before. Our reliance was merely on the makers of the film. At best they would come around to check with the local paper what their impressions were of the film in question. And that too after release. Now … its is different, more dynamic and certainly more responsive to casting votes !!

How I wish this comparison would never have existed. It is I believe the root cause for jealousy, intrigue, sympathy and all that seems to be connected with these factors. Our job as actors should be to follow a captain first. Then if he wishes we could go ahead or remain isolated.

But all this requires incredible understanding, coordination, compassion and great love for the ‘other’ . The ‘other’ could be any one. They are generally the ones that face the brink, suffer quietly and then leave never to regain it again.

Picking up the cue from some of the reactions that came about after the promotional acts of ‘Dum Maaro Dum’, I am tempted to put up some pictures of Abhishek’s reactions with the crowds. But I hesitate, for this is his film and solo. Were he to get me going I would gladly put it through, with whatever resources I possess. But let me get his clearance first.

Shanouk shows his exemplary skills at barking at anything that he feels does not belong to the family. His meeting with me after this rather long hiatus, shamed me. He was all over with his large frame, sniffing and goading us almost into providing some eats for him. Pets are at their best performances when their masters eat at the dining table, ignoring their presence. They will bring on the saddest expressions, nudge an elbow or its equivalent into submission, until their only goal in life, that of procuring something to eat from the table is fulfilled. With his size he is beyond the height to the top of the dining table Shanouk, and this is used most effectively to ‘persuade’ the Master to compassionately consider their desire for a meal along with another they may have just finished. And when they are ignored, or spoken away from any dining activity, they lounge a few feet away in one the most hurt and languid expressions ever seen. Such darlings they are !! Though I must add here that while we were away, Shanouk has had enough of the attention that he would normally never get. But pets are pets. What ever would we do without them, and they without us !!

Status quo maintained. A bit of movement from the ladies dressing up and then end of chapter.

Love and more … and a very happy and prosperous Hanuman Jayanti to all .. willpower, strength and desire to serve and the moto of our lives

Amitabh Bachchan

News BigB Blog

I need to be cautious when I write BigB Blog

I need to be cautious when I write

Jalsa, Mumbai      April  17,  2011   Sun  11 : 32 PM

I need to be cautious when I write. Words written in a moment of introspection go out to millions and sometimes create anxiety to the EF. This is not correct. My own condition, if it can be called that, is not meant for distribution and exhibition. That it has caused some of us within to be of concern and worry is legitimate. It showed the affection that existed among you towards me. But there should not have been such an exposed expression to it all.

All then is well and comfortable. There really is no sign of any kind of disturbance or hurt. It was just one of those moments when it became imperative to let it all out. Not because there was reason to let it out or that there was a situation that had built up. No. Nothing of the sort. The mind is not disturbed at all. They were simply ramblings. Now and then at this age it would be deemed to be an obvious act. Its going to be ’stepping into the 70’s’ next year and it matters at many levels when you reach there.

Bhawani Singh Jaipur the erstwhile Maharaja, passed away yesterday. He was a dear friend and his wife Padmini Devi is close to Jaya. He had been ailing for sometime, and had been unwell for several more - heart condition.

Our prayers and condolences for the departed soul.

A humble man, caring and considerate, pet named Bubbles by his family, because of the very large amount of champagne that was opened by his Father, at the time of his birth. A handsome attractive prince, who lived a charmed life. For sometime he served in the Indian Army and was posted in the Presidents Bodyguard at Rashtrapati Bhavan. When we lived in Delhi at 13, Willingdon Crescent, a road that ran along the boundary of the President of India’s house, Bubbles would often drive past in his Ford Thunderbird convertible - a most favored car with the young of those times. And as I would be walking across to South Avenue some 100 yards away to catch my college bus for University, I would see him impeccably dressed in his uniform, driving along and would wonder if I would ever be able to someday get a ride in it - not imagined ever that I would be in a situation where I would be able to acquire similar facilities - mostly the car !

But time and circumstance changed. After joining the movies I happened to be shooting ‘Ganga ki Saugandh’ an early years film in Jaipur and met up with him and spent quite a bit of time in his company and his polo buddies. A smaller palace of his that had been opened and refurbished for the Queen of England’s visit, had now been converted into a private Hotel and we were staying there. One evening he invited us over to a party at his friends place and graciously offered to drive us there. Yes … you got it … it was that Ford Thunderbird that I used to see him in with envy, that he pulled out that day and I could not but marvel at the wonders of fate and allied coincidences.

Bubbles, great great grandfather, I think, Maharaja Jai Singh founded Jaipur the city. It got its name Jaipur from him. Jai Singh was the one that planned the Pink City, as it is now referred to. It was so modern in concept and geometric in its presence that many town planners after copied his ideas. The way Los Angeles is planned, with long stretches of roads and systematic streets is something inspired from Jaipur, because that is how it was first designed, planned and executed.

I think in one of my earlier posts I had mentioned the Jaipur Polo Ground in Delhi and how we used to go there to watch polo being played, albeit from a distance, because we were never having the means to get inside there legally. Watching this fascinating sport, in all its regal splendor was such a high for us. Bubbles and his Father played there, watched keenly by Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, one of the most beautiful women of the world. And Rao Raja Hanut Singh, a brilliant player and one that had the highest handicap, would enthrall us with the skills he possessed for the game and for his riding. Ah ! those were the days !!

To bed now … tomorrow back to ‘Bbuddah’ … and tomorrow also maybe it would be time to share some recent photographs of the happenings around us ….

Good night then …

Amitabh Bachchan

Compiling these photographs from the hundreds that were taken has been a monumental task BigB

Compiling these photographs from the hundreds that were taken has been a monumental task BigB

London , UK      Apr  13,  2011       Wed 9 : 15 PM

Compiling these photographs from the hundreds that were taken has been a monumental task. But at least I have found some semblance of balance in reproducing them. May I also warn those that visit this page, that some of the visuals may be depressing and horrifying in content. Do visit them with care. If you do not wish to see them or read about them, you should shut the page !

The view from my window in Krakow. The great castle in front where the Kings lived and ruled from. Subsequently due to the numerous invasions that took place to gain control of the city, the castle served as their head quarters. It also houses most of the royal dead buried within the large walls, as also some of the prominent citizens that excelled themselves in various fields ~

Auschwitz ! And within the halls where dormitories existed of the prisoners or those that were about to be gas chambered are now kept some of the remains of those that were exterminated. Here hundreds of suitcases. The owners wrote their names and date of birth on the boxes as dictated by the Commandent of the camps. Notice the prominence of Jewish names and dates of birth. Some of them a few years old - children ! Women were the first to be exterminated. But because they refused to go without their children, they too went into the gas chambers !

In a corner of a street in Krakow, a symbolic cross and candles in the shape of the cross placed in memory of the President of Poland, who as you know died unfortunately last year around the same time, in an air crash near Moscow …

A street store on the road corner in the Jewish sector of the city !

My hand prints for the plaque to be placed on the pavement that runs along the great castle. Michael Jackson there too. A pink liquid preparation is mixed and put into that little square depth and hands asked to be put into it without moving. After some time that pink thick liquid starts to turn white in color and that is when they tell you to remove the hands …. the imprint remains !

The Mayor, the palace of his office and the ‘key to the city of Krakow’. A moment of great pride. Not for me but for who’s son I was and which nation I came from .. Many ask what special privileges come along with the key. I was once decorated similarly by the administration in New Jersey by the senator in charge and I asked him the same question. What are the specialities of having the key to the city. And he replied - ‘If you were to be pulled up for speeding on any highway in the state, then the officer would make sure that you were escorted to the nearest police station with utmost dignity !!!

At the Salt Mines … they put up our national flag in honor of my visit. Heart warming and filling myself up with pride for my country !!

The lift that takes you down into the various levels of the mines via a shaft. We went down to almost 40 m and then further to 100 m and finally to 140 meters !! It moves softly and without any semblance of panic to its passengers. The lift moves in blocks of lift boxes placed one above the other at separate levels. So I could be on level 1, the other box will be at level 2 above me and so on to a train of boxes of 3-4 in number. Then all doors of all the lift boxes are simultaneously shut and on one command, a hand operated manual bell, the entire train moves down and when it stops, it stops simultaneously at separate levels too.

Its 300 kilometres of salt mine. Spread out in these large galleries under the city. It took us half a day to traverse just 3 kilometres of the mine. That is Mark the celebrated guide. A marvelous gentleman, smiling all along and giving us vivid narrations of the operations in progress. At times when the ceiling became low, he would warn us in Hindi with ~ ‘Sar sambhal ke’ …. ‘mind your head’ … He informed us that he knew 140 ways to say this line in almost all the languages of the world !! made a lot of sense ! ha …

The most remarkable feature of the mines was that as they worked along, the laborers started carving through the salt rocks and started making objects and architectural images of so many different people ~ mostly tourists. Here now is an image of Copernicus, a philosopher and guide to many intelligentsia of the times.

Gnomes !! Considered to be lucky for the miners were carved at various places and revered. The carving I hope you will understand is just salt rock and nothing else. The women particularly liked the gnomes, and one particular gnome was singled out as being fortunate for the ladies. The belief being that if the ladies kissed him they would get a good husband ! The kiss was meant to be given on his mustache and since he was placed and carved out at a rather difficult spot to reach the ladies found it tough to get there. The philosophy being obviously that without a struggle you would not be able to get a good husband. However many ladies struggled, climbed and reached out to this gnome precariously parked on the edge of a steep precipice, planting a kiss on his moustache. All objects being made of the rock salt, in time the gnome lost one side of his mustache. The moustache in Polish culture being of great importance in a man. The guide Mark, very generously kept reminding the ladies in our entourage that his moustache was in perfect form and existence, in case a substitute was needed !!

The piece de resistance of the mine visit - an entire Chapel built within the mine … and all in salt !! The floor, the alter, the images of Christ and his story. An entire replica of any Church on land. And on particular days services are held here, where the miners and their families congregate to pray !! Even the chandeliers are made of salt. The electricity is of course the only exception. Unbelievable !!! This view is from a balcony as we walked towards it within the miles of salt shafts, streets, corridors and galleries. As we stood looking down at this amazing feature, the lights dimmed, a silence descended and then … gentle strains of Chopin broke out from the system around the entire facility. Inside this large cauldron, this excavated space through salt, this almost 30 metres of height and breadth, as the music drifted by one just could not control the burst of emotion that arose within. The goose bumps erupted and the tears welled up as we all stood there in uncontrollable wonder and amazement !! What a moment ! It has to be seen and experienced to believe it.

Carvings on the sides of the chapel depicting stories and events from the Bible …

The Mother Mary standing inside a carved salt enclosure, but made of white salt. The light behind giving it that feeling of divinity and also declaring that the material is indeed a translucent salt.

In front of the alter. All placements and positions just like in a chapel … but carved in salt. Even the flooring is not blocks of cement .. it is carved salt !!

In one end of the walls, the Last Supper … the dimensions are not great - just a few centimeters of depth, but they look as though a large portion of the mine wall was dug out to give this effect ..

At the University to unveil the portrait of my Father … in Krakow !

A metallic head lying distraught in the middle of their main square .. Shweta took this picture as did she most of the others. She asked me get inside the head and push my face out from one of its eyes - it is possible to do that - but I desisted. I gave her an alternative - could I pick his nose at she clicked - she shouted me out on that and this sedate posture was finally approved ..

And Shweta … in a lovely flowing ghaghara ! Looking stunning and attracting all the crowds in the square !!

The barracks at Auschwitz …

The entrance gate with those words on it which I think said ‘through labor will you gain’ … a decoy to mislead all those that were being brought here to be exterminated. They were given to understand that they were being brought here to do labor. The fit and healthy were indeed put to such task, the ill and weak were gassed. Ironically, the fit and healthy were used to pick up the dead and either bury them in mass graves or assist in incinerating them. The barracks were actually not especially built for concentration camps. They had housed Polish soldiers during the war. When the Germans invaded, they removed the soldiers and made this into what later came to be known as extermination camps. They got them free of cost ! Many that were brought her never entered the barracks ever. They were taken straight from the trains that came in bearing them and marched into the gas chambers, stripped of all clothing naked in front of their families and strangers it was the humiliation and embarrassment of the moment. They were told that they were being subjected to a process of disinfection to make sure no disease was being carried in, but in fact were brutally killed.

Tons of human hair of the prisoners kept in a glass enclosure from the shavings of all those that came to the camp. The hair was used to make clothing material by the Nazi’s ..

Remains of little children that were exterminated …

The wall of death … where the inmates of the camp were brought in large numbers and shot dead in a courtyard in the barracks. We enter with a prayer and stand in silence in their memory !!

The dreaded gas chamber ! Now greened and made to look presentable .. and by its side in front of it within 50 feet this …

….. at the far end, the house of the Commandant of the camp. Not more than 50 feet in front of the gas chamber … living there quite normally in his domesticity, with his wife and 5 children. Did they not ever feel the horrific atrocity that was being enacted in front of them every day - in front of their house - with women and children ! What did these people do to exist in such circumstances. What were they made of. Surely they were not humans !! But this particular Commandant was caught after the loss of Germany and tried and found guilty and hung in front of the gas chamber as you see now ~ on the gallows below !

The chamber … almost 700 to 800 hundred of them were pushed into one chamber and the gas released from the roof. When they realized what was going to happen to them they started praying and began singing. Within minutes they were all gone !!

The final moment …being incinerated in these large fire intense facilities, after the gas right next door. All systematically  worked out in great detail .. the ashes either thrown away and not even given to the victims relatives or friends. Thrown away in the Vistula River that flows alongside the city and the camp…

Need I say anymore ….

Amitabh Bachchan

It is now becoming impossible to put into words what unfolds each day in this wondrous city

It is now becoming impossible to put into words what unfolds each day in this wondrous city

Krakow, Poland     Apr  12/13,  2011     Tue/Wed  1 : 25 AM

It is now becoming impossible to put into words what unfolds each day in this wondrous city. I sit down at my desk and ruminate where and how one should start. I make mental notes throughout the day and each hour I feel the need to start again because the events that follow have overtaken those that went by.

Sitting atop the balcony of the picturesque National Museum, looking down over the main square, I am asked early in the morning through an interview what brings me to Krakow, why and how I feel about my visit my impressions of the place and whether I am surprised that the Poles have interest in Hindi and Hindi Cinema.

I do not have an adequate answer. I do not have any answer at all. I fumble with my words at giving a credible reply, but fail. Each day has been more rewarding than the other. Each moment made special by concerned and caring hosts and each location that I am introduced to leaves me searching for the apt expression to describe its value and its presence.

At the New University and in its time cared legacy, one is exposed to the wondrous tales of invention and discovery. To the custom and grandeur and protocol and pageantry of the times gone by. Of the importance that was directed towards education and the right atmosphere and condition and personnel to pursue this most essential requirement. The time and money spent in building the ambience towards learning, of creating structures that would remain through the ages, symbols that would be remembered through time immemorial. The vision and the process of thought, the right choice of those that taught and those that learnt, the environment filled with aesthetic ambience, in order that the student felt privileged to be in those magnificent surroundings.

In one of their ornate halls, and there are several such, the Dean unveiled the portrait of my Father, painted by a local artist from a picture that I had given them and then went on to commit that the library that was under construction would name its Hindi Section after my Father. An honor and an accomplishment which one would not have dreamed about ever. Poland, Krakow, University, Sanskrit, Hindi, Father’s legacy with them … just not being able to comprehend. But it all happened and happened with the kind of grace and respect that the subject demanded.

That over, we drove down an hour to Auschwitz, the concentration camps and the horror of the gas chambers during the most dastardly acts of the holocaust. The barracks where the prisoners were housed, the chambers where they were gassed, that Wall of Death where they were shot without reason and then the hair raising visuals of the tons of shaven hair sealed in glass chambers for visitors to observe, shoes, clothing, glasses, objects of personal belonging … all bringing on a surge of emotion and dumbstruck wonder on the inhuman atrocities that the Jews were subjected to.

We stand in silence inside the gas enclosure, place a wreath of flowers at the Wall of Death and come out into the open cold fresh air in pouring rain to just not wanting to believe what we had witnessed. Most of the tour that was given to us by a lady was conducted in silence. There was nothing to say. Everything was before us to imagine and access what would have transpired there. Even though there are hundreds of visitors in several different groups that move about, not a sound is heard from anyone. No one speaks, and no one exclaims. A motley crowd of tourists simply walk about from one locale to another as though in a stupor.

Returning back from the camps I get into bed for a while to try and rest away the horrid experience of this heartbreaking location, but it does not help. Still living in the world of that uncontrolled savagery I am driven across to the Theatre for a recitation of my Father’s works to an anxious, intelligent and literate crowd of limited people in a semi circular stage. And even though time is limited I am able to present a cross section of poems, making ‘Khoon ke Chape’ the most prominent one simply because its theme is similar to the emotion of the holocaust - to allow the preservation of the sites where such insufferable events occurred, so that they could remain as rude reminders of the horrendous history and that a repeat of it never took place.

Soon after the recital, limited though it was because of paucity of time, was the opening film of the festival, ‘Black’. The introductions of praise were embarrassing for me to bear. But how does one control it. I was to introduce the film and then depart, but I stayed back to see it. I was seeing it after its premier in Mumbai on the time of its release and I had to admit to the genius of  Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the Director and Producer of the film.

When honor and credit towards my country in  foreign land takes place. When Auschwitz and recitation of my Father takes place. When Black closes the day … you tell me … how does one describe these 24 hours …

I have been unable to ..

Love and good night .. it is 2:15 AM here in Poland ..

Amitabh Bachchan