(Almost) Meeting Amitabh
AB… SEE?
In which I am relieved that I didn’t bump into Amitabh Bachchan at the recent National Awards ceremony.
SEPT 23, 2007 - EVER SINCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT that I’d won the National Award for Best Film Critic, I’ve been inundated with phone calls from the extended family. I know what you’re thinking, that this is a warm-fuzzy scenario that would leave Sooraj Barjatya salivating. You’re thinking that these calls are an affirmation of their pride and joy in their boy who would shake hands with the President (rather, in this case, clasp his palms in a polite namaste; the earth, apparently, will vanish in a puff of blue smoke if so much as the extremities of opposing genders come in contact during social situations) and walk away with an eye-blinding disc of gold bling.
But that was only a teeny part of it. What these relatives were more excited about was that I’d be in the same room as Amitabh Bachchan, the Best Actor winner for Black. And not just in the same room, but right next to him – and I didn’t have the heart to correct this notion. The only way I was going to be his neighbour at the ceremony was if the organisers decided, by some logic of convolution, that they’d seat the winners alphabetically: everyone else on a first-name basis, and only the Big B by his last name. As far as I could see, that alone could result in Baradwaj Rangan alongside Bachchan, Amitabh.
No such thing happened, of course. Amitabh walked in and took his seat next to Sai Kumar (or Kumar, Sai), winner for Best Child Actor. I was all the way across, and even if I were to take comfort in the Euclidean theory that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, navigating this straight line would take (a) the skills to hurdle across the unending rows of tables in the amphitheatre, (b) the strength to barrel past the inevitable phalanx of photographers, and – in the unlikely scenario that I managed both (a) and (b), a turn of events that, short of being bitten by a radioactive spider, I couldn’t see how I was going to bring about – (c) the presence of mind to say something that would not result in his coming to the conclusion that I was a complete idiot.
After the ceremony, though – the prospect of facing crushed uncles and aunts (and a cousin who wanted me to pass on the message that she loved loved loved him in Cheeni Kum) notwithstanding – I was glad the meeting never took place. And this realisation hit me when I was chatting with Khalid Mohammad at the post-awards dinner. (Yes, I’m name-dropping. So sue me!) This gentleman – let’s call him Unabashed Fan – sidled up to the famous film critic (Khalid, not me) and said he loved loved loved his work. Khalid nodded politely.
Unabashed Fan, clearly encouraged, went on to swear on all things holy that he never ever watched a film that Khalid didn’t recommend. Khalid remarked that, in that case, this man wouldn’t end up seeing that many movies. And then came the kicker. Unabashed Fan made bold and offered this priceless bit of constructive criticism, that Khalid appeared biased towards English films. Even I rolled my eyes, but Khalid, exercising formidable levels of ocular control, simply said that he never reviewed English films.
The gust of wind that coursed through the room an instant later was my silent sigh of relief, as I thanked various combinations of divine entities that I had not been reduced to Unabashed Fan in front of Amitabh Bachchan. I mean, what could I have said? That I grew up with his films? That his presence has, in all probability, shaped my movie-watching more than that of any other actor? That I love how he’s reinvented himself as character artist in the multiplex era? The response to each one of these gushing proclamations would have been an outward smile concealing an inner yawn.
But I did use every opportunity I got to observe the man up close and personal (at least, to the extent that my far-from-vantage point would allow). And somewhere along the line, I ended up feeling quite sorry for him. He’d barely taken his seat, when all the photographers in the room defied a few hundred laws of physics and compacted themselves into the tiny space in front of him. It was as if the mere act of Amitabh Bachchan draping his body on a piece of furniture were worthy of national headlines. The poor, poor man. Then I remembered the price he commands for this loss of privacy, and all was well with the world again.
Copyright ©2007 The New Sunday Express
Sir, where is the photo?
Between your post so reminds me of this http://hawkeyeview.
blogspot.com/search/label/celebrity
But you are a dare devil though, you shook hands or rather namasted a woman who talks to the devil!
Your relatives think the same way as we do.
Baradwaj,
Are you a big fan of BigB?.
How many other actors have you met personally?
And I do feel sorry for both you and Amitabh. The president is the president but just awesome it would have been if the awards had not been delayed this long so that you two had got it from Dr. Abdul Kalam? Your place in history would have been assured.
Yep ..mee too .a great fan of yours ..Esp your telugu film reviews :))
Ha ! I had to wait for this post !
Your posts have held me in rapture , ever since I got introduced by a friend of mine , to a piece on Mani Ratnam .
To quote contemporarily, I was “Stuart Broad’ed”!
I happened to chance upon a person who resembled you (or atleast your google image ) , at Besant nagar ,opposite Cakewalk. You (?) were sporting a half trouser, a tee and a cap .You(?) were buying some vegetables from the local vendor there .
I had this compulsive urge to walk up and say-” Man, your piece on Mani was awesome !”, but then the ‘Unabashed fan’ in me did a ESP sneak preview of Baddy’s Sep 20th post , and stopped me on my tracks.
The ‘Unabashed fan’ got Khalid’s work wrong , but atleast he got the Man right !
I have never commented on your reviews, although I enjoy every bit of it , but this post warranted one because -Baradwaj Rangan, unknowingly, just reviewed a 5 minute short film I had starred, at Besant Nagar, months ago.
saw the pic in Indian Express. aalavanthan get-up sooopper :-). I have posted in my blog too
Guruji,
You met Guru of my younger days. Were you zonked (the only word he used to review Sohail Khan’s Hello Brother?
What did you talk with him? Did he give you any tips or did he ask how dare you write better reviews than him these days? Heehee
Did he say that he did not alter the script of Fiza because Roshan Jr had become a star by the time he started shooting? Did he mention that he had made a prophecy about Hritik’s potential when he’d appeared as a child artist in his father’s home production Bhagawan Dada starring our Style Mannan?
And, did you take his autograph on his magnum opus To B or Not To B?
Forgot to say the most important thing - Congrats once again.
Anonymous: Thanks for that link. Quite a similar experience he seems to have had, except that there was no “elai saapaadu” in my case
G: Apparently *everyone* does.
Srivatsan: Oh yeah. I don’t think there are many people in their 30s now who aren’t Big B fans. He pretty much defined an era.
Mumbai Ramki: “Telugu”? Didn’t get the joke… Or are you serious?
Deepan: Besant Nagar? Cakewalk? Yup, that was probably me
prakash: Thanks
Anonymous: It wasn’t a serious conversation or anything. Just chitchat. And thanks.
Forgot to ask a very important question - did the govt give you train fare or Air fare?
Baradwaj, Congrats!!!! But I thought we deserved to see your photo here that Prakash has put on his blog. Reluctant celebrity, eh???Who says critics cannot become celebrities???
By the way, how about moving the Khalid Mohammad way and jumping to the other side of the fence one day - making movies????
Congrats again, Baddy!!
Besant Nagar?? cake walk???
naan ithini naal anga thaane iruden..apo theriyama poche….
Excellent critiquing and a thoughtful window to the world of Indian cinema. I always catchup on your reviews Friday mornings, or if not posted, cursingly wait until later
Your award is well deserved and much congratulations!
Why aren’t you posting the Rajat kapoor interview here.
G: Air fare, man, air fare.
E Pradeep: Thanks. But this piece is about AB, not BR, hence *his* picture
Shankar: Thanks man.
Preethi: I hear violins in my head
Vadi: Thank you so much. The reviews of the Friday releases, though, are up on Saturday (usually).
Anonymous: Will do, will do…
Congratulations Rangan.
Congrats, and beautifully written, as always.
//The only way I was going to be his neighbour at the ceremony was if the organisers decided, by some logic of convolution, that they’d seat the winners alphabetically: everyone else on a first-name basis, and only the Big B by his last name. As far as I could see, that alone could result in Baradwaj Rangan alongside Bachchan, Amitabh.
No such thing happened, of course. Amitabh walked in and took his seat next to Sai Kumar (or Kumar, Sai), winner for Best Child Actor. //
Lovely, laughed a lot reading that. Excellent. Congrats yet again!
Baddy,
Congrats daa and the awards photo confirm that nothing has changed since 1992 and now and 10 other instances that we have seen each other.
most people in 30’s will be fans of Bachchan? Endha oorula? Nichayama not in YOUR Chennai.I think you are too enamoured by Bollywood and seem to have a ‘healthy’ disrespect for Kollywood when the truth is that both churn out bad movies in the same proportion and the recent multiplex market for some ‘different’ hindi movies which has led to some ‘better-wuality’ hindi movies doesnt in any way exonerate or increase the ‘worth’ of its films and actors. Amitabh is just too over-hyped. And the proof is that sitting in Chennai, you , a respected critic, claim that most people in 30’s are Amitabh fans? He may or may not be the greatest actor of his generation in india. But certainly, your claim is just not true in Chennai and therefore, it probably proves that your ‘mental’ existence is not in Chennai. .Note the ‘respected critic’ - otherwise your claim wouldnt merit rebuff
Pankaj, Vidya: Thank you.
Mickey: Thanks machi. Yup, not much has changed
raj: You made me re-read what I wrote, and all I said was that ” I don’t think there are many people in their 30s now who aren’t Big B fans.” I don’t *think*… that’s all; it’s not a declaration of absolute certainty. But all my Tamil friends at school, and around home - we all used to go crazy over each new Bachchan release then. So I can only speak from *my* experience. Maybe all the Big B fans in Chennai just happened to be around me at that time
And of course, Bollywood churns out crap. Do my reviews indicate otherwise? But their proportion of good-to-bad is far higher than in Tamil films. I wish it weren’t so, but that’s what I feel.
br, there’s no doubt that 99.99% of tamil movies today are crap - and the multiplex revolution - which is what has led to the influx of the ‘better’ hindi movies you are talking about - is a generation away. Perhaps more. Maybe, even eternity away. But thats not the point. The point is in your and many critics’ opinion, bollywood is therefore gettting a comfortable coating of ‘lesser crap’, based on this economical reality. The economics of movie-making in Bollywood has changed - and that means someone like you who would happily consume a well-made tamil movie , is forced to look for salvation from Bollywood. That, as you can see, is unfortunately, what the market dictates. But then, perhaps stockholm syndrome or something, this seems to sort of insulate even ‘ordinary’ bollywood movies as against ‘ordinary’ tamil movies from criticismy by B.R.
I mean, when you review a bollywood movie, there’s a lot of sympathy, an attempt to find good things about it and the writing reflects that soft-gloves approacch. Example, you attribute some or the otehr worthy quality to even KANK or Apne. Whereas, a much-appreciated Tamil movie like Mozhi is dismissed as insincere. Now, i dont think Mozhi is great. But I dont know what prompts you to say that KANK was a sincere attempt but Mozhi wasnt.Most interviews I have watched of Prakash Raj and Radhamohan dont seem to indicate that they were sincere in their take of that subject and certainly not trying to milk a “deaf-and-dumb” girl theme in a Vikraman-esque way yet you have damned that movie and the makers as Vikramanessque. (Dont ask me to quote but you surely indicated somethign of this sort in your KANK Review and a subsequent Comments box for some other review).Stockholm Syndrome is the only explanation I can come up with for this.
Dont mistake me - I WAS a Bachchan fan - and this despite or perhaps because of the fact that I followed Bachchan during the early -late 80’s, when I was a kid and therfore incredulous and which is probably the time he made 90% of his masala trash, with no redeeming features. But mainstream Chennai hardly recognises him - and this is a fact- you only have to step out of your house and make subtle enquiries to understand that. Yours must have been an elite school (PAdma Seshadri?). Even then, a majority of my not-so-elite-but-quite-upmarket-convent friends swore by either Rajni or Kamal, who , too , were churning out Masala crap at that time. Just goes to show that the reigning-masala-crap-churner is always going to be quite popular among the average fans but that doesnt mean a thing - and certainly doesnt deserve a fawning article from a respected critic. I mean, yes, it is true that a majority of the grew-up-in-80’s brigade which had familiarity with bollywood would be bacchan fans but considering market size, Rajni or Kamal would have a similar proportion of fans from their smaller South Indian market in the same age-group. There is no need to elevate Amitabh Bachchan to a super-status above them just because Hindi is a bigger market and hence he will have the bigger absolute numbers. Least of all, from a National-award winning critic like you - you have your responsibilities, you see, now
“â€? I have watched of Prakash Raj and Radhamohan dont seem to indicate that they were sincere in their take of that subjectâ€?”
Read this as
“â€? I have watched of Prakash Raj and Radhamohan dont seem to indicate that they WERE insincere in their take of that subjectâ€?
Raj: Wow. Just a few things from my side. (1) where did I elevate AB *above* Kamal and Rajini? When I said we loved AB, it’s not that Rajini (or in my case, Kamal) were invisible. In fact, when Geraftaar happened, many of us couldn’t sleep for days before the release
(2) The fact that the multiplex-movie exists in Hindi and doesn’t in Tamil shouldn’t make one excuse the quality. I don’t know if you read the review, but did rate Paruthi Veeran rather highly. Also Pattiyal, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu were some of the others I enjoyed. Maybe it appears that I have a bias because I don’t get around to reviewing that many Tamil films? i don’t know.
(3) About Mozhi, Jyotika threw me out of the film from Frame One. And I hated that it was staged and shot so badly. That’s one thing even the crappiest Bollywood films manage to get right (obviously because of deeper pockets). But it’s discouraging when you go to watch a *film* and come away having watched a TV serial. If I had written a long review, I’d have pointed out the pluses as well as the minuses, but my abbreviated comments probably made it sound worse. BTW, I doubt I called Mozhi “insincere”.
(4) Oh, and I still make it a point to catch new Tamil releases - even if I repeatedly take a new round of beatings. Latest case in point: the much-lauded Ammuvaagiya Naan, which is again a TV serail masquerading as a movie.
(5) Finally, I thought this was a fun, tongue-in-cheek piece - hardly fawning. anyway, I guess it appeared that way to you. Still, my only “responsibility” is to communicate to a reader my thoughts and impressions, and these are bound to be subjective because they are *my* thoughts and impressions. I don’t think anyone is capable of being objective when it comes to these things, and if they do, they’re just deluding themselves.
But for its worth, thanks for initiating this discussion. It made think about a few things I hadn’t thought about in a while
BR, I find it hard to refute any of your points :-). Well, I mean, I can easily understand when you say “Jyothika threw me out in the first frame”.She is capable of that, and having watched Mozhi, I cannot but concur. Again, the thing is the Tamil market is a bloody mass-ified market where even Kamal has to resort to some compromises(Remember the opening fight in VV?). And the market for a well-made , multiplex ’small’ movie with the sheen of a Bheja Fry(I am going by reviews, havent seen the movie) or even a Cheeni Kum is non-existent. Hell, why would Balki turn to the Hindi market, when it is his dream to make a movie with Kamal. Cheeni Kum might well have been made with Kamal in Tamil :-). But the truth is Balki wouldnt have the resources to make and market it in Tamil. Ofcourse, Kamal wouldnt submit to the director, especially one as rookie as Balki, as Amitabh did, thats another problem. The thing is the difference between Bollywood and the Regional Market today is - Bollywood has resources to encourage a certain type of ‘different’ films , with the rest of the denominators remaining the same.
I can see the point about your article being just a tongue-in-cheek one but to me, it appeared fawning.
And Amitabh is an extremely good actor, but overhyped by Indian Media as the “Greatest Actor of All Time of Indian Origin”, a line of chorus that one would swallow from Raja Sen but not from you , though I suppose you didnt actually say that but for me it was a case of “Yet another article fawning on Bachchan , and this time from one whom I respect as a critic as opposed to dismis-emrely-as-Raja-Sen:-)
Ammuvagiya Naan - parthiban movie. That says all that is required. Parthiban is another over-hyped ‘actor’. I mean, he is not that hyped, ofcourse, but even the miniscule hype that he gets as a ‘thinking’ director is undeserved.
And you did call Mozhi as Vikramenesque, which in other words, means insincere, wishful thinking , and unreal emotions passing off as cinema