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Nowadays there is talk of singing "Hanuman Chalisa" in the whole country. Do you know once a fan of Amitabh Bachchan wrote "Amitabh Chalisa"?

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By Muskan Taneja
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Amitabh

These days there is talk of singing Hanuman Chalisa in the whole country. It is understood that this is a simple way to connect with the devotee voters. But, few people know that Bollywood's

A writer, distributor wanted to make a film with Amitabh Bachchan and wrote an 'Amitabh Chalisa' on the lines of Hanuman Chalisa. This Chalisa was also sung in an Amitabh temple built in Kolkata. Amitabh Chalisa was also recorded, Big B heard it too, but this was the period of his busyness when he could not work in the film of his fan producer. Please tell that that producer was late Suresh Garg, who died two years back. Garg's enthusiastic experience of writing Amitabh Chalisa was published in 'Mayapuri' before his death. Presenting a brief part of that talk in the form of re-presentation-

publive-imageShri Suresh Garg's book "Title Fit to Picture Hit" has been included in the "Golden Book of World Records". His book has titles of 11,111 films. The stories of Mr. Suresh Garg, a cheerful person with a cheerful nature, were also liked by many producers for making films. At one time he was also planning to make a film with Amitabh Bachchan. Some of the stories written by him are 'Dulhan 5000 Crore Ki', 'Main Aur Meri Padosan', 'Yeh Kaisa Golmaal-2021', 'Amitabh Chalis' etc. The title of his new film was 'Ram Naam Se Sab Sambhav Hai' for which he was blessed by Swami Govind Dev Giri Maharaj, Treasurer of Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas.

You must have heard the stories of the passion of their fans for Bollywood stars! But, you must have hardly heard about the passion of a filmmaker. Ever to make a film about Amitabh Bachchan himself. Suresh Garg had rolled big papads. He came to Mumbai years ago from Indore to make a film with Amitabh Bachchan. "It was for Amitabh that I stepped into Bollywood for the first time. Then the name of the film industry was not popular as 'Bollywood'. People used to come to 'Bombay' surrounded by the attraction of films. You can also call it my 'Amitabhnama'. You can." He had told in a conversation with himself before his death. "In 1974, I saw Amitabh's film 'Zanjeer'. I was 15 years old then and became a huge fan of Amitabh. I was intoxicated by him. I used to think about films while waking up. I started nurturing the desire to become a writer and reach out to filmmakers. I was already fond of writing. My girlfriend died in the year 75...!" Suresh used to tell while taking a long breath.

Amitabh

After that only stories were coming out of the heart. I went to Mumbai. Took four stories. I had a story - 'Adhura Pyaar' on which a film was made - 'Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhe Se'. When the film was released, I came to know that my name was not in the credits. I became disheartened and went back to my hometown Indore. Father explained, said -- 'Don't make your heart small. Thousands of writers and actors like you wander there with dreams. Is there any Kapoor surname, any Kumar, any Khan or any Deval associated with your name? If not, then you will have to fight your battle on your own. Father explained that first establish yourself in business. With my father's help, I set up a 'Bhola Munakka' factory and after three years of hard work, my business was doing very well. Now the film-worm inside me started squirming again. I made up my mind to come to Mumbai with the thought that now I will strengthen my relationships in the industry, then I will do whatever I want. In the year '83, I started publishing a magazine named "Film Varsha". Started interviewing stars. I did the last interview of Raj Kapoor sir. Interviewed Shammi Kapoor, Rajeev Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Jackie Shroff, Govinda, Tinamunim, Satti Suri, Mandakini, Devanand, Hema Malini, Mithun Chakraborty, Gulshan Grover etc. Then the mind started wondering whether I am staying away from business to do this! I dabbled in distribution and also financed and got some films done. But the loss kept on happening. I used to spend 90 percent of my factory's earnings to make myself appear in films. Made the film office, kept the staff... Then the idea started in the mind. The dream of making a film with Big B started kicking in. Wrote a story - 'Tum ho god mere' - keeping Big B in the lead."

"What happened to 'Tum Ho God Mere'? And the dream of working with Big B?" I had asked.

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“He spent lakhs… kept signing many artistes and technicians by giving them lakhs. He also recorded two songs of ‘Tum Ho God Mere’. Have also heard that everyone praised.

''Did Amitabh hear the song? What was the reaction?"

“That's what I want to tell how a film maker gets looted after coming into this industry. Even after losing millions, he is not allowed to meet the stars. I could not tell my story directly to Amitabh. In those days I met a businessman from Dhanbad, he was also a big fan of Bachchan. We both had the same thinking and choice. He told that there was Amitabh Bachchan's temple in Kolkata where I should go. I went, it was really a big temple. Where Amitabh's fans used to worship, perform aarti. I was very happy. They started playing "Amitabh Chalisa" written by me there. I met Bachchan's secretary Sheetal but she did not give me the slightest response. Amita

 

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