As the country gets ready to celebrate the 70th birthday of one of its favourite sons, my mind is racing back to the day I first met the actor and my first impression of him. Amitabh Bachchan, fondly called the 'Big B' by the media, is known these days as the man who doles out crores on television.
Let me share with you my first interaction with Amitji. It was in 2007-08, at the peak of a dispute around a farm land he had purchased in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh. The man, who as 'Vijay' could beat the hell out of villains, was suddenly being hounded out as a villain himself by the media.
'Was Big B a land grabber?' screamed the headlines. After much persuasion, I finally managed to convince him of doing an interview with me. So off I went to Mumbai, straight through the doors where lakhs of fans would have come over the decades at his residence in Juhu, Jalsa. His office had asked me to come at 7:30 pm. However when I reached, I was told that he will be a bit delayed, as he was caught in a shooting schedule.
I thought, well, he is the superstar, and superstars are known to be fashionably late. It was only when he came in finally, I realized how wrong I was.
He came home around 10 pm. My pulse by now was racing, as I looked at several paintings of the man himself around his office, my mind kept taking me to all those heady hits of 70s and 80s - Deewar, Zanjeer, Coolie, Trishool, Amar Akbar Anthony, and of course, the cult hit, Sholay. I was wondering how to put some tough questions across to a man whom I had idolized since I was in school.
Incidentally, I also had alongside me, our film journalist, Rajeev Masand. Few people know Bachchan better than Masand. So I was constantly asking him all sorts of questions about the man. How would he react to uncomfortable questions, what if he doesn't like the questioning, will he leave or will he ask me to leave? Finally, the moment came. A booming voice from behind, aah, it was the same baritone.
"Arey, aap log aa gaye, maaf kijiyega, der ho gayi aane mei." I was in a state of shock. The man, Big B, is saying sorry so easily, as if he was just one of us. He first exchanged pleasantries with Masand, then looked towards me. I introduced myself, told him what a fan I was of his work. He smiled warmly, shook my hands and asked, "have you had dinner?"
This was to be the second humbling moment for me that evening. A dinner with Big B? More on that later, but there was also a job to be done. Thankfully, it was to be a recorded interview, as I was struggling for words initially. I had interviewed so many politicians till then, but Big B? Hell, he was THE Big B. So I asked him about the facts of the case, asked him if he was being targeted by the Congress because of his close association with Congress arch rival in those days, Amar singh.
After all, the land deal was done during the SP regime in Lucknow. I asked him if his soured relations with the Gandhis bothered him. With each difficult question, I would think, ok, he won't answer the next one. But not only did he answer, not once did he come across as someone who didn't wish to answer those questions I was putting. By the time the interview finished, it was close to mid night. Clearly late, by anyone's standard.
After almost an hour-long English interview, I sheepishly asked him if I could question him for our Hindi channel too. Again he surprised me, immediately agreeing for a Hindi interview as well. After we were done with the interview, he asked me, "are you sure you have got all your answers? Feel free to ask me anything else too should you desire!"
He then shook hands with me again, and said let me know when you decide to air this interview. What struck me that evening was the humility and grace he displayed.
After that interaction, I have interviewed him on several occasions; have talked about films, politics, his life as a TV host and everything else that's been associated with him. What's clear is that he has put his political past firmly behind him. He believes that it was a mistake to have joined hands with his old friend Rajeev Gandhi and become a Lok Sabha MP from Allahabad.
While he doesn't talk much about his name popping up in the Bofors scam, he was obviously relieved when the chief investigator in the Bofors scandal, gave a statement earlier this year that Bachchan's name was tossed up by those with vested interests. But in reality he had nothing to do with that scam. I remember talking to Amitji on phone that day when the statement came out. He was happy but at the same time he was sad that his parents weren't alive to see the name of their son begin cleared.
That's the other thing I have observed about him, his love and sheer respect for his parents - particularly his father Harivansh Raiji. He always likes talking about the kind of impact his father had on his personal life. He told me that day that he was crestfallen, when his father asked him one day, if he was really involved in the Bofors scam. He said he felt as if his world had collapsed.
He has come often to our channel's functions. And every time, he has come fully prepared. Not many of us are probably aware of the fact that he gets by sleeping for not more than 3 to 4 hours a day.
The world will remember Amitabh Bachchan as an actor par excellence, I will always look at him as a father figure who is also a very dear friend. May you continue to live long Amitji, may you continue to enthral us with your body of work. Happy birthday.
####
Comments
0 comment