But Amitabh Is The Greatest Fan Of...

Ali Peter John

It is getting extremely difficult to follow and describe the unbelievable and unparalleled success of the greatest ever superstar of the century or millennium as they call him. A two year old child or an eight year old or even a hundred year old active person knows all about him or at least know his name. I was once watching a video of his tour of South Africa in his exclusive room in ‘Prateeksha' and he was being taken around a home for the aged and all the men and women who were in bed kept using their feeble voices to shout ‘Amitabh', ‘Amitabh' and some even tried to touch him. Amitabh was watching the video for the umpteenth time, but he still had tears in his eyes as he watched one of woman particularly who was trying to get out of her bed to shake hands with him. This is only one scene of the love, admiration and respect people have for Amitabh. He can be at an international airport or traveling in his Rolls Royce or walking into a village in UP or Gujarat, but he is recognised by one and all everywhere. I sometimes wonder if there has been a more popular star, politician or saint or guru (and we have so many of them these days with some of them becoming chief ministers, MP's (even if they have charges of murder and terrorist activities against them) can be compared to the popularity of the Superstar who I can without any flattery say walks this world once in a way...

But, this same Amitabh is as human as any one else and has his own idols who he is a great fan of...

His biggest hero as he has said several times and even written about is his father, the eminent Hindi poet, Dr Harivanshrai Bachchan. He often talks about how he used to accompany his father to kavi sammelans and mushairas all over the country and had said that he had never seen such idol worship with anyone else. Comparing his father's popularity to his, he says, “I am loved by people only because of the various acts I put up on screen which are created by writers and directors, but my father was a wholly self-created star on his own. I have seen many other stars and god-willing see many other stars, but I can very consciously and with all the confidence I still have say that for me, my father will be a superstar like no other superstar ever".

Amitabh has had his own favourites among film stars. He was and is a very great fan of Lata Mangeshkar (the admiration is mutual) right from his childhood. He has tried to speak about his admiration for the Nightingale of India and at times has almost given up by saying,“unka varnan karne ke liye, mere paas na toh shabd hai na hi dimaag" and has sometimes said that she is the only genuine link between ‘‘manushiya (man) aur parmatma'' . Lataji will be ninety on September 28 and even at this age and in her ailing state, she has told her brother Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar who is organising a grand celebration to honour his elder sister, that she doesn't mind who he will invite to the function, but has told that she would be very upset if Amitabh was not present.

Amitabh has also been a great fan of Balraj Sahni who he considers one of the greatest natural actors and he has been his inspiration whenever he had to do highly emotional scenes in a very natural way. I remember how on the day of funeral of Balraj Sahni, the entire industry was on one side of the crematorium and he was standing alone under a coconut tree with his hands folded and his eyes downcast. That was the day when some people cursed him and called him all kinds of names for being an unlucky actor or no actor because he had given eleven flops in a row, words which she could hear and which gave him double the determination to make it. I knew about his admiration for Balraj Sahni and when Sahni's friend, Parikshat Sahni was writing a biography of his father, I asked him to get the foreword written by Amitabh and Parikshat who was Amitabh's friend and had even works with him was very diffident and kept saying,“nahi likhega yaar nahi likhega yaar". But I kept putting the pressure on him and he finally called Amitabh and told him about the book and Amitabh who was more busy than any man I know took time off and wrote a long and learned foreword which made both Parikshat and me cry. The foreword will appear in Parikshat's book which is published by Penguin Regards Publications in August.

Among the actresses Amitabh always had a special corner for Waheeda Rehman who he believed was one of the finest Indian actresses ever. He felt highly emotional and ecstatic when he was cast with his real life heroine in films like “Adaalat" and “Mahaan". If you ask me, I think this is the right time to team up Amitabh and Waheeda Rehman in a subject that they can make memorable.

Nutan was the other actress he admired and wondered if he would ever find a chance to work with her and his dream was fulfilled even while he was a struggler when Rajshri cast them in an unforgettable film called “Saudagar".

Amitabh had all the respect and admiration for Satyajit Ray and waited for a call from Ray to a role in one of his films. The call came from Ray, but it was to do the voiceover for Ray's first and only Hindi film, “Shatranj Ke Khiladi". Amitabh was also a fan of personality of Ray, his booming voice and his love for music.

Among the others Amitabh has had an admiration for are Bimol Roy, Raj Kapoor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Mukul. S. Anand and the way he is going, he may have many others to admire because he is one man who never hides his respect once he realises that the person he respects geniunely deserves it.

And the one thing about Amitabh which very few know is that he still believes that he is not a very great actor and there are many others who are or have been greater than him, but have not been in the right place at the right time....

It is these rare qualities that make Amitabh Bachchan a rare human being besides of course being a great entertainer and a humanitarian, a side about which very few know and he will not let anyone easily know.

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