Uss Zamaane Mein Amitabh Ke Liye Logo Kaa Pyaar Bade Bade Jhole Mein Aate The

Till "Zanjeer" was declared a hit , Amitabh hardly received a dozen of fan letters and most of them were in Hindi and sometimes in English and the regional languages spoken in Uttar Pradesh and especially from Allahabad , the place of his birth - Ali Peter John

But with the unprecedented success of “Zanjeer” which catapulted Amitabh to lofty heights and with his being crowned as the next superstar( he had finally trounced his competitor Rajesh Khanna who once used to mock him and tell his friends that Amitabh could never make it as a star),the fan mail for Amitabh first started as a trickle and went on to be like a flood of love.

The post man from the Juhu Post OFFICE first came to Prateeksha once a day, only in the morning.

And a time came when three different post men carried heavy bags of fan mail from all over the world. It was a regular phenomenon to which I have been a witness.

I had seen other stars just having a prepared letter with a photograph to satisfy their fans.

But Amitabh was the first star to have a department headed by a man called K V Raman whose only job was to take care of the fan mail and send them appropriate answers.

And believe it or not Amitabh found time to go through all the answers to the fan mail himself and sign them personally.

The fan mail didn’t stop coming and reached all limits when Amitabh fell seriously sick and the fan mail included prayers, mantras and all kinds of pooja and prayer offerings.

And even though Amitabh was not in very good health, he made it a point to write letters to as many of his fans as possible.

And one of the first letters which he wrote from his bed at the Breach Candy Hospital was to me and my editor thanking us for all the prayers and support during his battle with death.

Now with the sweep of the mobiles and computers, his blogs and tweets, the fan mail which used to come in huge bags has completely stopped.

And I would like to know how Amitabh and his real fans, the common man must be having their mutual admiration society. I am sure it cannot be the same.

Jo mazaa chitti likhne mein aataa thaa kabhi, kyaa woh machino se aa saktaa hain, Amitabh?