Not the Amitabh Bachchan I Admire

I heard a wise man saying,"The dogs keep barking but the elephant just walks away." Of late Mr Bachchan seems to have completely gone over-board with his replies to every Tom, Dick and Harry.

There was a time when silence was golden for both Mr Bachchan and his ardent fans. And it was his performance on screen which silenced his detractors. That Amitabh seems to have been eclipsed by a new age (MTV friendly) version of the superstar. The often demi-god status that Mr Bachchan enjoys is not just because of his films but his behaviour off-screen as well. As he lay fighting for his life during that terrible accident on the sets of coolie, the whole of India was praying for a man they both loved and admired. I was certainly one of those!

The equations changed for a while during his brief but controversial stint in politics on a friend's (Rajiv Gandhi) request. It was Congress then. He had to work hard to win back the trust of both his voters and some of his loyal fans. Amitabh publicily declared not to try his luck in politics again.

Unfortunately, he's doing it all over again. Jaya Bachchan has joined Samajwadi Party, he himself promotes the party indirectly in various poll campaigns, his son got an award from the SP led UP government, and his dauther opened an school in UP on a land purchased during SP's tenure. But the thing that most bothers me is his new found urge to reply each and everybody, as if promoting 'hajmola' (an Ayurvedic digestive medicine from Hamdard) wasn't enough!

Needless to say I'm pretty disappointed with his current showing. Amitabh Bachchab doesn't need a blog to reply to criticism now. He has nothing to prove after spending 40 glorius years in the industry. Perhaps Mr Bachchan should take a lesson or two on ageing gracefully from Yusuf Saheb!

AB and SRK - The Better Host?

I watch KBC whenever time permits and I must say that Shahrukh has brought a new zest to the show. His friendliness on the show has made the participant more at ease. Not that he is better than Amitabh Bachchan but each has his own style.

We should always give credit where its due. When Amitabh started the show it was a novelty and that's why the show enjoyed huge popularity. The second phase with him saw TRPs falling down. By the time Shahrukh replaced Bachchan the show had nothing new to offer except the questions. And so, like his movies, KBC too relied solely on the Shahrukh factor. So far he has done justice to the show. His boyish charm has certainly impressed my wife who is no SRK fan. For me that is something!