Good, bad but not ugly.
First of all let me confess that I am not a film buff. I don't watch Hindi movies. I don't idolize heroes or demonize villains. As a hard-core journalist I came across scores of personalities who failed or excelled in their professional pursuits. As part of my job I covered them without fear or favour.
During my four and a half decades of reporting for different newspapers and magazines from India and abroad I researched and commented on deeds or misdeeds of individuals on issues which were in public domain. Never breached principles of secrecy or personal traits.
Amitabh Bachchan or Big B (Always wondered why he was not called Awesome Amitabh) is one of them. I would like to recount some of the close encounters with him.
I covered Aviation beat for many years and was bestowed with an Airport pass that enabled me to enter all areas except the tarmac.
On one such on job routine I was covering the tragic crash of an Indian Airlines aircraft at Ahmedabad airport. Several passengers died while others suffered injuries.
The relatives of the victims were waiting at the Santa Cruz airport, Mumbai to be airlifted to Ahmedabad.
It so happened that Big B too was at the airport along with his family and associates to catch a flight to Calcutta where he was supposed to attend a show. The flight his entourage was booked on was slated to have a stopover in Ahmedabad. The airline managers requested him to cancel his bookings so the the grieving families could be adjusted on the flight. But his business manager curtly refused citing huge financial losses and resultant legal issues. BIG B never intervened. The airline finally arranged a relief flight to Ahmedabad.
The other occasion was a press conference held at Hotel Oberoi Sheraton. It was organised by the upcoming electronics company called BPL which had launched TV, Refrigerators, washing machines and VCRs in a big way.
They had roped in Big B as their Brand Ambassador at an staggering fee of Rs 6 crore. A big amount in those days. The BPL head, I think his name was Sanjeev Kohli gave details about the Big deal. When the question answer session started I stood up and questioned that whether the deal was signed with Big B in his capacity as an Indian or an NRI. The question stunned every body and there was no answer but the cat was already out of the bag.
In those days the NRIs had to seek permission under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) and that obviously was not taken in this particular case as BIG B was an NRI at that given time. The deal with Big B was finally shelved.
In 1995 Big B started his ambitious project under the name Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL) with a target to make it a Rs 1000 crore company by the year 2000. Unfortunately the company suffered huge losses during the next two years rendering Big B at the verge of bankruptcy.
In 1997 I rented a flat at famous Chand Society, Juhu, situated just a stone's throw away from Prateeksha, the official abode of Big B. There were many co residents who were involved in the film business.
That was a bad phase in the life of Big B. He had no money to pay rent and salaries to the staff. Most of them left and a few remained loyal.
I watched him several times to drive in to our building compound and dropping a lively girl home who lived on the ground floor..
She was a young Sikh girl who stood by Big B to look after his office working without a salary. Much water has flown down the memory lane and Big B is back to his prime again.
And that Sikh girl holds a prime position in his super rich Empire.
July 15, 2020
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Baljeet Parmar, Eminent Journalist and Writer , Mumbai
baljieetp28@gmail.com
Phone No. : +91-9870131868
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