Bachchan unbound

Once there was The Bachchan whose Sunday afternoon Prateeksha darshan was as revered as his Friday releases.

Once there was The Bachchan whose Sunday afternoon Prateeksha darshan was as revered as his Friday releases. It was a momentous occasion, the superstar 8212; usually draped in white kurta pyjama 8212; would come out from his mythical Juhu fortress, wave and mingle with his fans for a few minutes and give them memories for a lifetime.

Once there was The Bachchan whose occasional interview in film weeklies was reserved for a devout fan8217;s scrapbook, when a sighting at public events was a really big deal. Then he was the angry young man, the representation of the collective consciousness of our society. He fought the bad guys, the rotten system and always emerged victorious. His audience had this unshakable belief that if The Bachchan is in a film, in the end, sab theek ho jayega.

Cut to today when The Bachchan is Bollywood8217;s most social face. If Rajnikanth is the Boss then Amitabh Bachchan is the Dude of the Indian film industry. Forget just the big and the small screen, these days he is available on your desktop and Blackberry too 8212; the mahanayak at 66 has taken to blogging in a big way. Some days, he even posts thrice a day. He8217;s been at it for only 22 days but by the looks of it already has a cult following, with fans advising him on film selection, health issues, and general gyaan. The Bachchan, in turn, is ever courteous to his fans and has on many instances even quoted some in his posts.

The vanguard of the Bollywood blog movement is of course Aamir Khan. Khan took his online audience through the making and release of his directorial debut, Taare Zameen Par. The blog proved to be an ingenious marketing strategy, and occasionally Khan has used the space to explain his stand on serious matters like the Olympic torch relay.

In contrast, The Bachchan treats his blog as an online journal. He has initiated an extended dialogue with his fans whereby he issues clarifications, denies casting rumours and promotes his films and ventures. Sometimes he also doles out candid trivia, as for example, in one of his posts he lists the food items he does not consume: 8220;I do not consume alcohol, nor smoke, nor eat meat, nor drink tea or coffee, nor Coke or Pepsi, nor paan or paan masala, nor Indian sweets or chocolate, nor cake nor pastry.8221; Sometimes he gives his opinion on serious issues like female infanticide also. As a blogger, Bachchan strikes the personal chord with his fans, especially when he writes the location from where he is coming live to them: Prateeksha, Mehboob Studio, St James Court Hotel Crowne Plaza, London, The Dusit Thani Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, etc. He quotes his father8217;s poetry, shares anecdotes and expresses his opinion on the topic du jour.

On the surface, the blog is a great way to interact with fans but the fine print is that The Bachchan is using this space to vent all that has been festering inside of him. Post the Abhishek-Aishwarya marriage, he had expressed concern about the media 8220;badgering8221; his family. He had given a spate of interviews, which many believed was a delayed PR exercise. Obviously he still feels the same way because for the otherwise private and reticent Bachchan to suddenly be fearless and express his anger and hurt so unapologetically is rare. With this exercise he intends to stir the media, publicly ridiculing individual bylines. He posts the transcripts of all his interviews which he gives on email since he believes, in his own words, 8220;At times I feel, all that I had to say and the manner in which it was said, can and does give a different mentality to the interview. I would in all fairness therefore, want the readers of my blog, that take the trouble to access it, to be privy to facts as they were portrayed by me. And in the true spirit of fairness allow the reader to judge what he thinks is acceptable or not.8221; Through the blog, The Bachchan tries to counter media misinformation.

He uses the same defensive/offensive stance when he takes on colleagues and critics Shatrughan Sinha, Anurag Basu, Salim Khan, Anbumani Ramadoss, expressing himself on subjects like the insider vs outsider drama in Mumbai, Bofors, his exit from politics, his land cases and so on. Interestingly, The Bachchan manages to strike a dual note in his blog. He8217;s friendly with his fans but for all those who criticise him and his family read media, he has no qualms wearing the angry old man tag with pride. Hopefully, his outpourings in a medium that he can 8220;control8221; are doing him good. And though till now he has only displayed his sarcastic and angry self on the blog, maybe as time goes by and he gets more used to blogging, we will get to experience the famous Bachchan sense of humour too. Like his co-star Jiah Khan in Nishabd, we too want The Bachchan to 8220;take light8221;. That aside, as an image strengthening exercise, the blog is a fantastic tool. It also helps in recreating The Great Bachchan Charisma. His message is clear: You might think I8217;m down but you8217;re a fool if you think I8217;m out.

harneet.singhexpressindia.com