Bachchan — 373
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“The polling station was at Jamna Bai School in JVPD Scheme, Juhu. The school where Abhishek and Shweta used to go in the early years of study in India and Mumbai. It was nostalgic to be in its precincts again. But it was madness to be outside it after having cast the vote. The media, both electronic and print and radio descends upon you like a ravenous beast, salivating at the mouth for the delicious meal they wish to devour that very instant.”
“Prakash Mehra, the director of some of my most significant and most successful films lies in the ICU. When I go up to him he has difficulty in recognizing me. It is most depressing to see my contemporaries in this way. We made ‘music’ together Prakash ji and myself – Zanjeer, Hera Pheri, Muquaddar ka Sikandar, Namak Halal, Jaadugar. This wizard of a director, now lying inane and without response, eyes open but closed for all purposes, ventilator breathing for him – just so unimaginable. The doctors say he is improving. I hope he recovers well and remains healthy.”
April 30, 2009 at 5:21 PM
[Did see the picture earlier as well as video of the same. This ‘ravenous beast’ as you well describe it demands constant blood as do its audiences and I’m afraid this is the the Faustian pact one enters into when one embarks on a journey as an actor. I nonetheless sympathize with you as the media was a far less offensive ‘beast’ when you first set out into cinema. Those who join the industry today know what to expect and often wallow in it as well because if you don’t have too much to offer as a star or actor you can nonetheless get as much mileage being a celebrity whose primary job is to just be a known face. The same happens in the West. Of course the field has been greatly enlarged so that anchors and actors, politicians and judges on reality shows are all celebrities alike. Even those who engage in dalliances in the Oval office! The media pounces on everyone and the bourgeois audiences that otherwise scream ‘family values’ and ‘morality’ at the drop of a hat are more than happy to consume this constant media feed and derive all kinds of vicarious pleasure in the bargain. Let us consume the affairs of stars so that we can then pretend we lead ‘holy’ lives. It is a kind of pornographic equation where one always ’sees’ to derive pleasure to that one might never have to ‘do’ anything. And of course here there is the added obscenity of constantly allowing oneself the luxury to judge the other (in this case the star). This is not to suggest that the star or the celebrity is blameless of course. If I focus on the other side of this equation most often it is only because demonizing the star is all too easy and all too often in evidence.
This ‘ravenous beast’ nonetheless did not find it fit to mention Prakash Mehra’s ill health. I do not think I am slouch in these matters and yet I did not see such a news story anywhere. I am quite glad you mentioned this even as I am saddened by the news. Mehra’s Zanjeer, Mukaddar ka Sikandar, Lawaaris are to my mind permanent achievements and certainly so within your canon. Of course Namak Halal is one of your most loved films as is Sharaabi. I do not believe these films match the other two though I can concur with the view (offered by an Indian academic in the US whose views I greatly respect) that your performance in Namak Halal is the greatest act of improvisation in Indian cinema. Even the much maligned Jaadugar has some remarkable moments in it and as I’ve said forever I wish I could see the complete cut here. One hopes for the best for Mehra.]