Bachchans FC 7!-DOTW-p.119-Big B as Pres. - Page 7

At least the media gave this message: since the rituals were documented in great detail by the genius reporters of our English dailies with photo-ops of a demure Bharatiya nari, that is, Ash the antiseptic, dutifully following her in-laws etc through the maze of Manglik cleansing ceremonies.

Read more hard-hitting columns

Indeed, if there was one classic case of a best-selling brand, and a best-selling brand family, selling the most mindless, anti-woman, anti-scientific, anti-rationality, anti-modernity message, it was this incredible Sankat Mochan exercise. If the 'Indian of the year' (how, why, on what ground, if not only pure commerce?) is a role model, like his son, and Ash, then what is the message to the nation? That all Manglik women are pre-ordained in their immaculate misconception to be condemned?

In any case, Amitabh Bachchan, who started of as a thin and lean anti-establishment icon with that hungry look in the angry 1970s of the failed idealism of a failed democracy, ended up as a failed tycoon who genuinely missed the abc of authentic greatness, until Amar Singh fixed his debt-ridden resurrection with KBC.

So what is the Big B doing these days? Selling, selling, selling - perhaps except for sanitary napkins this man is selling every product on earth. Last reported, he had donated a few crores worth for a crown for a cash-rich south Indian temple, that's great philanthropy, no doubt. But how is he a role model for the nation if he is only making hordes of money for himself and his family and for obscenely prosperous gods?

Bachchan would have been a role model if he had the courage to break conformist thresholds, if he had made meaningful cinema, like actors Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, George Clooney, Jodie Foster, and Shashi Kapoor as producer; if he had been moved by farmer suicides and hungry children; if he had financed great cinema; and if he had, at least, built a hospital cum research centre on that rare disease which almost killed him after Coolie and when the entire nation prayed for him.

Do you think Bachchan is not a role model for the nation?

Mass adulation can make you a money-making brand, but it means nothing for the soul, for society or for history. Because true greatness can't be bought or sold, like the memory of Che Guevara or the writings of Munshi Premchand or the films of Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak.

But what to do when the entire social, cultural and economic paradigm has become dominated by the tyranny of mediocrity? In a cloned society of backward capitalism and gasping globalisation, where every second day is a dry day, (Shiv Ratri, Ram Nawami, Balmiki Diwas, Holi, Diwali, Id, Budh Purnima, Mahavir Jayanti, you name it), where another money-making machine and method actor is now taking over KBC reportedly charging in lakhs per show, what do you do with talent?

Look at Bollywood. When sons and nephews of dynasties take over as 'actors' with miscellaneous models (alleged followers of Mother Teresa etc) as 'actresses' how do you solve the mystery of vanishing talents like Pankaj Kapoor, Raghubir Yadav and Manoj Bajpayee? As Om Puri told Naseeruddin Shah in a TV show: "They have distributed all the good roles among their relatives, while we are left holding a stethoscope in one hand and a banana in the other."

At least the media gave this message: since the rituals were documented in great detail by the genius reporters of our English dailies with photo-ops of a demure Bharatiya nari, that is, Ash the antiseptic, dutifully following her in-laws etc through the maze of Manglik cleansing ceremonies.

Read more hard-hitting columns

Indeed, if there was one classic case of a best-selling brand, and a best-selling brand family, selling the most mindless, anti-woman, anti-scientific, anti-rationality, anti-modernity message, it was this incredible Sankat Mochan exercise. If the 'Indian of the year' (how, why, on what ground, if not only pure commerce?) is a role model, like his son, and Ash, then what is the message to the nation? That all Manglik women are pre-ordained in their immaculate misconception to be condemned?

In any case, Amitabh Bachchan, who started of as a thin and lean anti-establishment icon with that hungry look in the angry 1970s of the failed idealism of a failed democracy, ended up as a failed tycoon who genuinely missed the abc of authentic greatness, until Amar Singh fixed his debt-ridden resurrection with KBC.

So what is the Big B doing these days? Selling, selling, selling - perhaps except for sanitary napkins this man is selling every product on earth. Last reported, he had donated a few crores worth for a crown for a cash-rich south Indian temple, that's great philanthropy, no doubt. But how is he a role model for the nation if he is only making hordes of money for himself and his family and for obscenely prosperous gods?

Bachchan would have been a role model if he had the courage to break conformist thresholds, if he had made meaningful cinema, like actors Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, George Clooney, Jodie Foster, and Shashi Kapoor as producer; if he had been moved by farmer suicides and hungry children; if he had financed great cinema; and if he had, at least, built a hospital cum research centre on that rare disease which almost killed him after Coolie and when the entire nation prayed for him.

Do you think Bachchan is not a role model for the nation?

Mass adulation can make you a money-making brand, but it means nothing for the soul, for society or for history. Because true greatness can't be bought or sold, like the memory of Che Guevara or the writings of Munshi Premchand or the films of Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak.

But what to do when the entire social, cultural and economic paradigm has become dominated by the tyranny of mediocrity? In a cloned society of backward capitalism and gasping globalisation, where every second day is a dry day, (Shiv Ratri, Ram Nawami, Balmiki Diwas, Holi, Diwali, Id, Budh Purnima, Mahavir Jayanti, you name it), where another money-making machine and method actor is now taking over KBC reportedly charging in lakhs per show, what do you do with talent?

Look at Bollywood. When sons and nephews of dynasties take over as 'actors' with miscellaneous models (alleged followers of Mother Teresa etc) as 'actresses' how do you solve the mystery of vanishing talents like Pankaj Kapoor, Raghubir Yadav and Manoj Bajpayee? As Om Puri told Naseeruddin Shah in a TV show: "They have distributed all the good roles among their relatives, while we are left holding a stethoscope in one hand and a banana in the other."

At least the media gave this message: since the rituals were documented in great detail by the genius reporters of our English dailies with photo-ops of a demure Bharatiya nari, that is, Ash the antiseptic, dutifully following her in-laws etc through the maze of Manglik cleansing ceremonies.

Read more hard-hitting columns

Indeed, if there was one classic case of a best-selling brand, and a best-selling brand family, selling the most mindless, anti-woman, anti-scientific, anti-rationality, anti-modernity message, it was this incredible Sankat Mochan exercise. If the 'Indian of the year' (how, why, on what ground, if not only pure commerce?) is a role model, like his son, and Ash, then what is the message to the nation? That all Manglik women are pre-ordained in their immaculate misconception to be condemned?

In any case, Amitabh Bachchan, who started of as a thin and lean anti-establishment icon with that hungry look in the angry 1970s of the failed idealism of a failed democracy, ended up as a failed tycoon who genuinely missed the abc of authentic greatness, until Amar Singh fixed his debt-ridden resurrection with KBC.

So what is the Big B doing these days? Selling, selling, selling - perhaps except for sanitary napkins this man is selling every product on earth. Last reported, he had donated a few crores worth for a crown for a cash-rich south Indian temple, that's great philanthropy, no doubt. But how is he a role model for the nation if he is only making hordes of money for himself and his family and for obscenely prosperous gods?

Bachchan would have been a role model if he had the courage to break conformist thresholds, if he had made meaningful cinema, like actors Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, George Clooney, Jodie Foster, and Shashi Kapoor as producer; if he had been moved by farmer suicides and hungry children; if he had financed great cinema; and if he had, at least, built a hospital cum research centre on that rare disease which almost killed him after Coolie and when the entire nation prayed for him.

Do you think Bachchan is not a role model for the nation?

Mass adulation can make you a money-making brand, but it means nothing for the soul, for society or for history. Because true greatness can't be bought or sold, like the memory of Che Guevara or the writings of Munshi Premchand or the films of Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak.

But what to do when the entire social, cultural and economic paradigm has become dominated by the tyranny of mediocrity? In a cloned society of backward capitalism and gasping globalisation, where every second day is a dry day, (Shiv Ratri, Ram Nawami, Balmiki Diwas, Holi, Diwali, Id, Budh Purnima, Mahavir Jayanti, you name it), where another money-making machine and method actor is now taking over KBC reportedly charging in lakhs per show, what do you do with talent?

Look at Bollywood. When sons and nephews of dynasties take over as 'actors' with miscellaneous models (alleged followers of Mother Teresa etc) as 'actresses' how do you solve the mystery of vanishing talents like Pankaj Kapoor, Raghubir Yadav and Manoj Bajpayee? As Om Puri told Naseeruddin Shah in a TV show: "They have distributed all the good roles among their relatives, while we are left holding a stethoscope in one hand and a banana in the other."

This is your second movie with Mr. Mani Ratnam, how was your experience with him?
Working with Mani is always a great experience. According to me, he is possibly the most gifted and talented director that we have in India today. He is a great ambassador to Indian cinema, and just to get the opportunity to stand in front of his camera is a matter of great pride and honour for any actor. I know a lot of actors who strive to work with him. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to do two films with him already.

What is Guru all about?
Guru is about Guru. I think the poster has brilliant lines. It says a villager, visionary, winner. It is the life story of Gurukant Desai. It is a rag to riches story of a common man from a small village who has a large dream- a huge dream and how he sets about achieving it. It is a very interesting film. After a long time, we are going to get to see a film which is specifically about just one character and its growth.

You are playing Gurukant Desai. Tell us something about this role, and how did you get into this character?
I guess Gurukant Desai is from a small village in Gujarat, how he leads his small village in the chase of his dreams. He finishes his studies and comes to Mumbai. Gurukant's greatest ability is that he never says No. He never gives up and he will do whatever it takes to achieve his goal. Once he has decided he wants to achieve something he will do whatever it is to achieve it.

As the film's promotion line says, "the most controversial man of the year", tell us something about that. What is the controversy in the film?
There is no controversy in the film; it is just that Gurukant Desai, through the screenplay of the film ends up being very controversial because when you start achieving what you have set out to achieve. He ruffles a few feathers; people who have already established and who rule the country are not really happy with this common man who has come out of nowhere and who is achieving stuff that even they have not managed to achieve. Especially when he achieves it in a span of five years which they have taken generations to achieve.

So obviously, when there is a new entrant into a field who starts doing very well, the people at the top do not like it. So, hence, there is a huge campaign to try and bring him down. The authorities do not believe how somebody can have such a meteoric rise and they do not want this man to succeed. Hence he is always dragged into the controversy which is a bit sad because in life when something does have a meteoric rise, we do not tend to believe it. Gurukant Desai is one such a character who does achieve and does achieve very fast through his sheer hard work and brilliance. Hence he turns out to become a very controversial figure, so the tagline, "the most controversial man of the year."

What is the one thing you like about this character?
I like the fact that despite achieving whatever he achieves near the end of his life where he has conquered all his dreams; he still has never lost that small town boy in him; you can still see that villager within him. In other words, he stays very routed to where he is from. He remembers where he is from and I like that about him. I think it is very important, no matter who you are, where you come from or what you have achieved to remain routed.

I like his brilliance. I think he is a brilliant mind, the schemes he devises when he faces to the problem, how he decides to tackle that problem, he does it all on his feet and he is very fast and he is a brilliant mind, I like his mind.

So is that the reason you took up the film?
I think that first and foremost, when a director like Mani Ratnam offers you a film; I do not think any actor has to really bother about what the role is going to be. It just so happened that when Mani came to me with the film I knew that it is going to be a great character like this. Guru is a film, which actors do not get everyday. I am pretty convinced that I will never get a movie or a character like Guru ever again. It is once in a lifetime opportunity and there was no way I was going to let that up.

We spoke to Mani Ratnam and he said that you have put on the weight for your character, is it true?
What does it like? Yes, I put on eleven kilos for the film.

Do you like experimenting with your characters?
I think experimentation derives from what you want to do. We do not experiment. We are actors and we enact a role. Gurukant Desai is a different role than what Jay Dixit was in Dhoom. They look different, they are different people. So you will have to do whatever it takes to make that character as believable as possible. I think if I would have put a white wig and white moustache and put on padding all over myself, it would take away from the believability factor of Guru.

Yes and it looks very artificial.
Yes, we are actors. We are meant to mould ourselves to what the character demands and Guru demanded all this, so we did it.

A. R Rehman's has done its music. Tell us something about it?
A. R Rehman is a genius. He is a maestro and I think he is an exceptional talent and he has given some wonderful music for Guru.

Which is your favourite track?
My favourite track would probably be Tere Bina.

How was it working with Aishwarya Rai, Madhavan, Vidya Balan and Mithunda?
It was wonderful. Look at the star cast that Mani had put together. Any actor is going to be excited to work with Mithunda, Aishwarya, Vidya and with Madhavan. They all are immensely talented actors and as actors and actresses. They have achieved so much. So it is obviously a dream to get a star cast like this to work with.

What is the USP according to you of Guru? What do you think why should people come and watch Guru?
Because they want to. It is wrong to say what the USP of the film is because there in itself you defeat the purpose of the film. I think that a film has to entertain you. That is the most important thing and you cannot have one unique selling point of a film. Why should people come and watch the film? They should come and watch Guru if they want to watch the film. It is as simple as that. They should not come and watch the film, because it has some fantastic songs. It is a nice star cast and the costumes are good. They should come watch it because they want to watch it.

What is the first thing comes to your mind, when I say Guru?
The movie. Nowadays whenever anybody says Guru I think of the film.

Tell us something about your other film.
I am currently shooting for a movie called Drona, which is directed by my friend Goldie Behl but the next release after Guru, would probably be Jhoom Barabar Jhoom which is directed by Shaad Ali. After I finish Drona, I will start work on Sarkar and take things forward from there.