Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It must be the most delusory media romp into Bollywood8217;s Serial Superstar Amitabh Bachchan8217;s phantom life. And, who is Jessica Hines? AB8217;s Trophy Geek, Giggling Gatecrasher, Room Service Mate or what? All of them except Big B8217;s Biographer. As we trip into page after page, lurch from hotels and sets, city to country, it8217;s an unfazed Hines who carries on despite the elusive interview that never comes from AB, except that he agrees to meet her in all the places, keeps his date, but there8217;s mysteriously no conversation, we are offered none.
So, in this chase, well, actually meetings, Hines mostly comes up against a glass wall, AB is moody, broody, droopy, gloomy, but is always at his gentlemanly best when he promises to be 8220;cooperative and supportive8221; the next time, and invites her to the set, city, hotel, home he will soon be. And, Amitabh, Hines says, has always made good his promises. And what do we get as AB indulges his own Personal Academic the new Bollywood accessory as Hines very honestly admits as the real reason for AB8217;s interest? The same hokum about Mumbai8217;s diamond and dust life, creamy Berry Biryani at Britannia, the act of creation and insanity in the makeshift studios of Film City, girl talk with new friend Manisha Koirala, mosquitoes, yoga, drifting, apart from the Accident in 1982, AB had a near-fatal accident which had the whole country grieving and praying, ho-hum, meetings with AB8217;s colleagues, directors and co-stars, and the only quote you get from AB 8220;Things are really going crazy, am still working out when we could do the interviews.8221;
Hines8217; interviews with producers, directors and co-stars give a glimpse into AB8217;s life, even though she gets nothing new. No one wants to tell stories on record that might irritate him. Yash Chopra recalls how AB and Shashi Kapoor drifted on their lilos into the sea in Goa, after an evening of 8220;merrymaking8221;. Kapoor remembers asking AB not to do the Rs 50 crowd role in a Merchant Ivory film.
The two women in his life Jaya and Rekha are not interviewed. Hines postpones Jaya till she gets AB, Rekha is elusive until she agrees because Hines was an Indian in her past life. The meeting is promptly cancelled by Rekha8217;s furious PA and companion, Farzana. And, so, after three years, what does Hines get? A Bachchan habit hard to kick. Great, but we are not hooked.
