People are complaining that Amitabh Bachchan is using his family, his granddaughters, to promote his new film, Pink, but what else is new? He has used so many families to promote himself over the years, why should he not use his own? Once again, that is. Mr Bachchan first used the Nehru family, to say they were great friends of his parents. Can you do that? I can't. He also used his own father, to say he was the son of a poet, and not just some film crazy, poor, uneducated, star struck wanna be star, from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, or the suburbs of Bombay. These two utilisations of family gave him a big edge. In the initial period, producers, scriptwriters and directors spoke to him with more respect that they did to other newcomers. He then used the Gandhi Family to enter politics, but that backfired so badly, he ran away, all the great merit and image he got from his Bollywood Family was threatened, so he dumped the Gandhi Family.
He then used the Kotak Family, to finance his film ambitions, but that turned out bad too, both he and that family ran away from each other. His daughter then got married into the Nanda Family, the people behind Escorts, a multifaceted corporation with great initial energy, which appears to be coming back, big time. Did he use that family? No, I don't think so, but his daughter, the mother of one of his granddaughters, did marry into an important family.
Then he used the Sahara Pariwar, the Anil Ambani Family, and the Samajwadi Family. And Amar Singh, who came to his rescue, bailing him out of whatever mess he was in, and for his services, Amar Singh and the Samajwadis got a faithful servant, and a ready inhouse testimonial endorser for a couple of years. And that was a big achievement, because Mr Bachchan is the brand ambassador of important states in India, and sometimes even endorses the entire country.
And now, he's using his granddaughters to probably sell a movie, and got the Times of India Family to print it for him. So what? But, my big complaint with him is that he could have written it so much better. It's a bad idea actually. He says, "Log kya kahenge should not be uppermost on your minds... And because you are women people will force their thinking, their boundaries on you. They will tell you how to dress, how to behave, who you can meet and where you can go..."
Navya Naveli Nanda graduated from Seven Oaks School in London, do you think she is even bothered about how short her skirt is? Aaradhya Bachchan will be 18 somewhere in 2030. Do you think India will still be fighting about the length of one's skirt in that year? There is nothing wrong in an Indian using his family, it's bad news though, when he underestimates both a granddaughter, and his own nation.
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