Why Does Amitabh Bachchan Write Blogs?
Why do we write blogs? Is it to kill time? Is it to express ourselves? Is it to extricate the negative energy and the stress that builds up in us? Or as Freud would have propounded, is it due to an innate need for mankind to be "famous"; to feel important, albeit in a territory completely controlled and some times read only by us?
I had lived by these explanations till I heard that Amitabh Bachchan had started writing blogs. I had initially thought it was to discuss his art (whatever is left of it) undistilled from the press that he seems to loathe so much.
But even a cursory reading of his blogs will tell you that the reason is simply not that.
Amitabh, between busy schedules, globe trotting, dancing and prancing, attending "meet & greet" sessions, and at times face laden with "kilos of beard and make-up", finds time to bicker about the press, about diminishing values in society, about what his dad taught him (there is an awful lot of that); he fights back at people that are out to malign him (and that could even be an insignificant blogger)... and occasionally writes about the science of film-making and the success of one of his "sold out" shows. A modest man, who has nothing to be modest about. He even seems to be counting his days (no pun there. May he live long enough to endorse every conceivable product in the market) as he religiously makes an entry for each day.
That is okay. It's his blog and he can do what he pleases with it. But the problem is Amitabh sounds like one of the fallible, grumpy old uncles, who at the twilight of their lives vent out their frustrations and anger at the new order, looking back at what their life wasn't and what it could have been, romanticizing values of the yore, and glorifying their antecedents.
All of us know what we feel when we hear that from our neighborhood uncles - a tinge of sympathy and a load of irritation. Except in Amitabh's case, you feel only irritation. It is nice to know that the angry-old-man, in spite of the riches and the fame is still rooted in middle-class values (such as arm-chair critique and selfishness).
But, come on, Mr. Bachchan. You don't deserve to sound frustrated. You are the biggest there is.
You have achieved about everything that an Indian would like to achieve in seven lives.
You were born into an intellectual family to a near-celebrity dad, had an upbringing that most of us can only dream of, a career that nobody ever dare dream about. And you are arguably THE most popular citizen in India. In order not to keep it boringly one-sided, you went through your fair share of disappointments from which you rose again, like a phoenix, to prove to the world that you were indeed the "Superstar of the Millennium".
You receive an award in every award function that you attend, you have been waxed to Tussaud glory, and can get away with fashion faux pas like no other celebrity can. Being the "legend" that you are, you are naturally positioned to receive the highest honors for your field (Dada Saheb; maybe a Bharat Ratna) and perhaps other fields (such as farming).
And yet, all you seem to be doing in your blog is non-stop cribbing. I understand all this popularity comes with its baggage and has imbued in you a certain cynicism, but can you stop making the rest of us feel like a bunch of worthless losers?
What do you really want?!
I had lived by these explanations till I heard that Amitabh Bachchan had started writing blogs. I had initially thought it was to discuss his art (whatever is left of it) undistilled from the press that he seems to loathe so much.
But even a cursory reading of his blogs will tell you that the reason is simply not that.
Amitabh, between busy schedules, globe trotting, dancing and prancing, attending "meet & greet" sessions, and at times face laden with "kilos of beard and make-up", finds time to bicker about the press, about diminishing values in society, about what his dad taught him (there is an awful lot of that); he fights back at people that are out to malign him (and that could even be an insignificant blogger)... and occasionally writes about the science of film-making and the success of one of his "sold out" shows. A modest man, who has nothing to be modest about. He even seems to be counting his days (no pun there. May he live long enough to endorse every conceivable product in the market) as he religiously makes an entry for each day.
That is okay. It's his blog and he can do what he pleases with it. But the problem is Amitabh sounds like one of the fallible, grumpy old uncles, who at the twilight of their lives vent out their frustrations and anger at the new order, looking back at what their life wasn't and what it could have been, romanticizing values of the yore, and glorifying their antecedents.
All of us know what we feel when we hear that from our neighborhood uncles - a tinge of sympathy and a load of irritation. Except in Amitabh's case, you feel only irritation. It is nice to know that the angry-old-man, in spite of the riches and the fame is still rooted in middle-class values (such as arm-chair critique and selfishness).
But, come on, Mr. Bachchan. You don't deserve to sound frustrated. You are the biggest there is.
You have achieved about everything that an Indian would like to achieve in seven lives.
You were born into an intellectual family to a near-celebrity dad, had an upbringing that most of us can only dream of, a career that nobody ever dare dream about. And you are arguably THE most popular citizen in India. In order not to keep it boringly one-sided, you went through your fair share of disappointments from which you rose again, like a phoenix, to prove to the world that you were indeed the "Superstar of the Millennium".
You receive an award in every award function that you attend, you have been waxed to Tussaud glory, and can get away with fashion faux pas like no other celebrity can. Being the "legend" that you are, you are naturally positioned to receive the highest honors for your field (Dada Saheb; maybe a Bharat Ratna) and perhaps other fields (such as farming).
And yet, all you seem to be doing in your blog is non-stop cribbing. I understand all this popularity comes with its baggage and has imbued in you a certain cynicism, but can you stop making the rest of us feel like a bunch of worthless losers?
What do you really want?!
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