PicShik Blog

Contrary to speculation that Amitabh Bahchan expressed a desire to be directed by Aamir Khan, the Bollywood icon says he doesn’t remember making any such statement.

According to reports, at the premiere of Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, the Big B said that he would like to be directed by Aamir.

“I’ve no idea about this. And if sections of the media in Mumbai are talking about such a collaboration then they know something that I don’t,” Amitabh told IANS.

Amitabh-Aamir collaboration rumours are embarrassing to both on another count.

Four years ago Aamir was committed to acting in a film to be produced by AB Corp Ltd, which Aamir’s cousin Mansoor Khan was to direct. But then Mansoor gave up filmmaking. And Aamir moved on.

Today it seems unlikely, if not entirely impossible, for Amitabh and Aamir to come together.

“Not that there’s any lack of mutual respect,” said a source. “Both the parties respect the space that the other occupies. But working together? That seems a little far-fetched.

“Such talks are embarrassing to both Mr Bachchan and Aamir. First, because both think the other is desirous of getting together and is therefore reluctant to refute the rumour.

“Not when Bachchan gracefully went to Aamir’s nephew’s premiere as a goodwill gesture. Now everyone is trying to read unintended meanings into a sweet social gesture from the industry’s most respected actor to another actor,” added the source.

He’s the brand ambassador of Bollywood’s Oscars, the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards. Of course, Amitabh Bachchan hates both appellations: Bollywood, a term he’s been battling for decades and India’s Oscars.

“Call the award ceremony IIFA, and you’ll honour the best talents from the Indian film industry not just Bollywood.”

This statement is ruefully accompanied with the acknowledgment that it isn’t possible to honour all the best performances with an award.

“I am a big fan of Dilip Kuman During my college days, I saw his film Ganga Jumna and to me, Dilipji delivered an award winning performance but he didn’t win an award for it.”

Still, he’s made his peace with awards and considers audience appreciation the biggest award. Which is probably what Aamir Khan is telling himself now that Taare Zameen Par has not been nominated for anything at IIFA.

“Aamir does not like awards”, says Amitabh Bachchan.

“He is following his principles by not filling in the nomination form and IIFA is following their’s by not considering the movie.”

Talking about the upcoming Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding anniversary, he reveals that, it’s the date they wil11aunch the promo of Sarkar Raj in Mumbai.

The young couple will join them through video conferencing and interact with the media. As for the gift he’s planning to give, the loving father says, “lots of love, affection and blessings for the couple.”

Steering clear of speculations that the movie title ‘Singh is Kinng’ was an assertion of his box office status, actor Akshay Kumar whose recent films have raked in nearly Rs 500 crore worldwide, said megastar Amitabh Bachchan is the real ‘King’.

“Bachchan has been in the film industry over over 35 years and he is the real king. There are many who are around for 15-20 years and like to call themselves king. There is only one king and he is Amitabh Bachchan. I am merely acting in a film called Singh is Kinng,” Akshay said, without naming Shah Rukh Khan, who is called ‘King Khan’.

He was speaking at a promotional event of ‘Singh is Kinng’ which will be released later this week.

Many in trade cirlces had commented that the title ‘Singh is Kinng’ was an attempt on Akshay’s part to show that he was the “King of Bollywood”.

To a question on whether his comments would fuel another round of speculations, Akshay said,” I said what I feel. Even after 35 to 40 years in the industry, Amitabh Bachchan is a humble man. He folds his hands when he speaks. I have worked with him in seven films. If my comments lead to a controversy, I dont care.”

Akshay, who is shooting in Los Angeles for Sajid Nadiadwala’s ‘Kambhakkt Ishq’, specially came here for three days to promote ‘Singh is Kinng’. He also participated in the inaugural show of Bachchan’s world tour ‘Unforgettable’ in Toronto on July 18.

When asked whom he was referring to in a recent statement daring his detractors to come out in the open, Akshay said he had not named any one and would not like to do so. “The message has been conveyed to the person who needed to know,” he added.

The honeymoon between Ram Gopal Varma and his favourite Bollywood family, the Bachchans, is all but over. If sources are to be believed, the Bachchans are not too happy with the way Sarkar Raj performed at the box-office.

Though they were okay with the product and thought it was a decent enough follow-up to Sarkar, there’s little chance of another sequel any more.

Apparently the initial euphoria over Sarkar Raj soon waned when close friends including journalists and filmmakers told the Bachchans that the only USP in the product was the Bachchans. This, according to sources, set the Bachchans thinking.

And now comes the final blow. Apparently all the big films that RGV was planning with the senior and junior Bachchan have suddenly gone into cold storage.

There are too many financial liabilities riding on Ramu’s company and the Bachchans are not foolish to let any filmmaker exploit their name and presence to override those liabilities. They are extremely wary now. When we contacted Ram Gopal Varma, he shot back a text message giving a ridiculed reaction.

Amitabh Bachchan denied this latest development too.

Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan , who is on a world tour for his concert the Unforgettable, has developed a severe cold and fever.

The Big B, who is in Los Angeles right now, informed ardent fans on his blog that he was not keeping well: “I have developed a fever and an inflamed chest.”

The Bachchans’ much-awaited Unforgettable opened in Toronto July 18 and travelled to Trinidad and in both the places it got an overwhelming response.

Bachchan has teamed up with his son Abhishek Bachchan and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai for this tour.

Preity Zinta , Ritesh Deshmukh , composer duo Vishal-Shekhar and choreographer Shiamak Davar are also part of the troupe, while Akshay Kumar performed in Toronto and Madhuri Dixit and Shilpa Shetty will be performing in the US and UK respectively.

Going under the weather has invited a lot of attention from his close associates and family. However, Bachchan didn’t mention on his blog whether he will perform Saturday or not.

“I have successfully managed to get all attention towards me. The wife, the children, the staff, the production and the concerned bloggers! Each have their own home grown remedy for my ailment.”

Talking about the suggestions he is getting, he said: “Sweat it out, keep the juices going, do not strain, sprinkle eucalyptus on pillow, sprinkle in steam, sprinkle on forehead, sprinkle on chest, that’s a lot of eucalyptus.”

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, who took time out from the shooting of Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kambhakt Ishq in Los Angeles to be part of the Bachchan’s The Unforgettable Tour opening show in Toronto, says he wouldn’t mind going out of the way for the Big B.

Incidentally, out of all the contemporary Bollywood stars, Akshay has done the maximum number of films with Amitabh Bachchan including hits like Waqt.

“Amitji is the most respected actor in our country. I’d do anything he asks me to. I wanted to do the concert in Toronto and I’m glad it went well,” Akshay, who resumes shooting for Kambhakt Ishq, said.

The concert kicked off July 18 and the actor performed with the Bachchans - Amitabh, Abhishek, and Aishwarya Rai.

“I joined the Bachchans for the first of their Unforgettable concerts in Toronto. With the shooting and the rehearsals, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going,” he added.

This is the only concert that Akshay participated in. “There’s no time for me to cram in any more activity.”

Akshay, who plays a stuntman in the film, was especially happy to work with Sylvester Stallone.

The actor has done some of the most death defying stunts of his whole career. To top it all, since it’s Akshay, there was no question of using body doubles! This did worry producer Sajid Nadiawala a bit as the producer himself found some of the stunts too dangerous.

But then as they say, there is no stopping this Khiladiyon ka Kinng!

There are few celebrities in Bollywood who can face up to the collective might of the Bachchan family and yet not feel awed — Preity Zinta is one of them.

The actress is currently on a 40-day tour with the Bachchans — Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek and Aishwarya — taking part in a singing and dancing extravaganza staged in 11 cities across North America, Europe and the Caribbean.

Zinta said she knows having the Bachchan tag for the tour helps.

“I have my own sensibility and I am confident of myself as an actor and a person. I am also sensible enough to know that when there are three Bachchans on a tour, people are going to talk about it much more than anyone else,” Zinta told a news agency.

Zinta was not part of the original line-up announced for the Unforgettable Tour but was roped in after Lara Dutta and Bipasha Basu opted out.

“It doesn’t matter who’s been on and off. What excited me was that the Bachchans were going and that different actors were coming on in different parts of the world and that’s a treat to the audience,” said the 33-year-old actress.

Zinta is confident the three-hour shows would also appeal to Westerners.

“It’s not just the Indian audiences any more and that’s the beauty of our cinema. The last show I did, there were people from Marrakesh, Africa, Germans, French. Our cinema has opened doors to different countries. It’s not the conventional Hindi audience any more.”

Indians from all over the Caribbean flocked to the Queen’s Park Oval at Trinidad to watch Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya dance to the tunes of their hit songs as part of their Unforgettable Tour.

Trinidad was the second leg of the tour, which kicked off in Toronto, Canada, on July 18. Since Trinidad was the only Caribbean stop, Indians flew in for Sunday’s show by chartered planes from Suriname, Guyana and Jamaica.

After a short delay caused by an electrical outage, the show was put on the road by the Caribbean’s noted master of ceremonies Shamoon Mohammed. Seventeen-year-old Shivanna Ragoonanan held the audience’s attention with her renditions of both Trinidad and Indian’s national anthems on the steel pan.

After that there was no looking back as Preity Zinta and Akshay Kumar prepared the crowd for an enthusiastic song and dance extravaganza with their brilliant performances. Preity set the tone with a couple of scintillating renditions, including Pretty Woman from her film Kal Ho Na Ho. Large screens had been put up at the Oval to ensure everyone was able to see their favourite stars perform.

Riteish Deshmukh and Vishal Shekhar took over from Preity and Akshay. Then Abhishek was on the frontline, interacting with the crowd, which included former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, MP Kamla Persad Bissessar, cultural activist Ajeet Praimsingh and acting director of the Gandhi Cultural Centre Shantosh Misra.

Abhishek recalled that he had come to Trinidad 25 years ago with his father and had a very memorable stay. He thrilled the audience with his electrifying performance of songs from Dus and Bunty Aur Babli.

Aishwarya Rai got a standing ovation as she took to the stage. She came. She saw. She conquered. She sang and danced, ably supported by her cast on stage and from the audience. The former Miss World was dynamic, thrilling and decisive. She knew what the audience wanted and came prepared to deliver it.

The audience jumped to their feet when the Big B took control of the show. Some danced while others sang along as he performed several hits, including Rang Barse and Pichkaree.

It was truly Amitabh’s show. His mesmeric presence on the stage would continue to linger in the hearts and minds of all those who came to see him perform.

Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek, Aishwarya, Preity Zinta and Ritiesh Deshmukh, part of the month-long, The Unforgettables Tour, running across US, Canada, UK and the West Indies, have just finished their first two shows in Toronto and Trinidad.

Yesterday, Amitabh Bachchan in his blog made a telling statement about the show. We quote verbatim: “I am shocked and covered in disbelief at being privy personally to a design by certain sections of the media and the fraternity to bring down this show.

To kill it, to malign and write it off. This is shameful and disgusting.

“I have on several occasions spoken of a bias that exists for no reason whatsoever, against us and on each occasion, you my readers, have pleaded that I ignore them for greater dignity and character. But I am compelled to talk about it, dignity can take a walk for a while, because it has already started,” wrote Bachchan.

When this reporter spoke to Bachchan in Toronto and asked him to ‘talk about it’, he chose to sit on the fence. “SRK is a friend and a well-wisher, not just of my family and me, but also of the fraternity and the industry. Also the speculation on the list of names [SRK, Salman and Aamir] is a lot of rubbish. I do not have any issues with any of them.”

Says a source in the film industry, “It’s difficult to understand whom Amitabh Bachchan means by the ‘fraternity’. He has issues with Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan. Is he trying to say that they are out to sabotage his show? Aamir had made nasty remarks about Big B on Black, which Bachchan hasn’t forgotten or forgiven though he made pretence of making up at Aamir’s Jaane Tu premiere.

Bachchan and his family don’t like Salman because of his history with Aishwarya, while his rivalry and cold war with Shahrukh is a well-known fact especially after Shahrukh ousted Bachchan from KBC3. Bachchan hasn’t forgotten or forgiven him.”

An US promoter, on condition of anonymity, confirmed that there have been attempts by a ‘big star’ to pull down The Unforgettables tour, “A big event organiser in India, has tried in multiple ways, to sabotage our shows.

The attempt was made at the behest of a very big star. This star tried to schedule his shows in UK and the USA in same cities as the Unforgettables tour, just a month before the tour and at half the rates we were offering. But he couldn’t do it as it wasn’t financially viable. So now the star is spreading rumours of our show in Toronto being a flop with tickets being sold at high prices.”

“Mr Bachchan is an experienced hand at shows and is involved at every stage. Nobody will try to mess with us again though they tried very hard. It’s an expensive show with each show costing over a million dollars (Rs 4.2 crore), while a Shahrukh Khan show costs just $4,50,000 (Rs 1.9 crore).”

Living up to its hype, the Amitabh Bachchan-led Unforgettable Tour opened to an unprecedented response here. Billed as the biggest-ever Bollywood live show abroad, the three-hour inaugural kept the 10,000-strong audience at the Rogers Centre riveted.

Torontonians could not have asked for more as the Big B, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Ashwariya Rai appeared together at a live show for the first time Friday night. And it turned out be a spectacular debut for the Bachchan clan as they kept the audience on their feet with their solo and collective performances.

Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta too threw in equally brilliant performances in this song and dance extravaganza, as did Ritesh Deshmukh and Vishal Shekhar.
Opening the evening, Preity set the tone with a couple of breathtaking numbers, including “Pretty woman” (from her film “Kal Ho Na Ho”), before calling on stage “the sexy and gorgeous and unforgettable dude” Abhishek.

Abhishek popped up somewhere in the crowd and had to be escorted to the stage. Once on stage, he raised the tempo further by belting out hit songs from his films such as “Dus” and “Bunty Aur Babli”. His “Dus bahane karke le gaye dil” left his female fans hysteric. Old timers tapped their feet when he sang his dad’s “Khai ke paan Banaras wala” from “Don”.

And as expected, Ash drove the audience crazy with her super hit “Crazy kiya re”. For his part, Big B had something for everyone - from “Rang barse” (”Silsala”) to “Roop hai tera sona, sona” (”Kabhi Kushi, Kabhi Gham”) to “Kajra re” (”Bunty Aur Babli”).

However, the evening belonged to Akshay, who literally set the Rogers Centre on fire with his exciting and interactive performance. Having lived here on and off and known the pulse of the city, he opened with hit song from his yet-to-be released film “Singh Is Kinng”, followed by “Dil da mamla hai dilbar” and “Tere roop di ho gayee balle, balle”.

A virtual stampede broke out near the stage when he offered any girl to come on stage and sing a love song with him. Having chosen a smart girl, he offered her a gift box before singing with him. And when she unwrapped the box, out came a nightgown!

Before the sheepishly smiling girl could recover, he wrapped his arm around her and launched into “Bheegay honth tere” from the film “Murder”. Indeed, Torontonians could have not asked for more.