Someone posted a comment on the blog on ‘Aarakshan’, my pictures from an earlier post, and expressed somewhat disapprovingly on my look for the film and my general state. He said ‘how could you be playing a teacher with brown hair. Beard is ok but brown hair ?’ And then asked ‘why I colored them instead of using my original hair, if I had any !’, he ended sarcastically.

I had responded to him to see the film first, before drawing conclusions. I now put these pictures from ‘Aarakshan’ for his benefit to inform him that my look of a professor in the film is this and not what he saw. What he saw was a picture in another circumstance for a mobile endorsement ad., that I was doing with my original look. And the hair is not colored brown, it is indeed colored darkish with a few strains of grey. The lighting on a picture sometimes can be very misleading. And before you start drawing conclusions on the gear of this picture , let me inform you that the circumstances of this situation are also different.

In any case dear member of the EF, most photographs of mine, give me more credit than I deserve and therefore your observation and comment is not entirely incorrect. I am a rather plain ordinary looking person, with a huge amount of handicaps, which do make me a touch incomplete and uncoordinated - conditions which under normal circumstances would and should irk someone of your superior aesthetics. Getting on to 70 in a years time adds to my ineptness, for which there is very little that one can do. Many well wishers of the profession have advised and recommended numerous exciting procedures that great many artists in the field succumb to, albeit with great success, in order to look more presentable and certainly without the effects of brown hair ! But I have yet not succumbed to them and I think it would take a lot of my character away from me, if I did. Down the years I have learnt to live with what was given to me genetically. And I am eternally grateful for that. I have lived with all my incompetence to the best of my ability. My abnormalities, have remained abnormalities. They were fated for me thus and rather than lament upon them, I would want to accept them, not pay too much attention to them, nor draw attention of others towards them either. I dislike the fact of running up my medical history at the drop of an EF hat. I have been through that many times over in the past and most of the extended family is more than aware of my condition, or conditions if you will. I cope with what remains of my original self and am happy with it, brown hair and all !

Yes, I would happily have given a vivid description of my ailments and my stitched up incomplete body, if I was in the process of wooing a lady in my early years. But now, nearing 70, and with grandchildren, it seems incongruous to be indulging in this wasteful exercise. You are not a lady, and I am not young and in my early years. It is best then that we forego this conversation.

In life it matters if we give a gentle thought before coming to conclusions, particularly if those conclusions are directed at someone else. When we are prone to coming to an answer without surveying circumstances, we generally get the answer wrong. For me that would be an embarrassing situation, one that would not just prove me to be wrong in my own eyes, but also prove to be a questionable aspect of my personality. I would protect that with all the sincerity at my disposal. Unless I chose not to. Which is also not too bad an option and one that you may have been wanting to adapt. Which is perfectly fine as far as I am concerned. Though I doubt very much if it would be of much help to you publicly. Provided of course, if public opinion is of any concern to you. Not having mentioned your name here deliberately has exonerated you of that possible malaise.

Okayyyy … ! Enough no more tis’ not so sweet as it was before !! To draw back from the ‘bard’.

Hema ji was on set today with us, looking as graceful and gentle and with her trade mark forthrightness and simplicity. She does a small cameo in the film and I think after tomorrow’s stint she ends her work with us. The day spent with the entire cast on set in the open and the sun playing truant, gave all of us time to share so many incidents and conversations among each other. Films, songs, situations, past directors and scripts, technology, attitude, next generation … and so much more ! A healthy respite from the mundane-everyone-shifting-to-their respective vanity vans routine after each shot !

How Manmohan Desai functioned, how Prakash Mehra, Hrishikesh Mukerjee, Ramesh Sippy … so difficult to define each one of these giants and their creative process. They each had their own individual styles and visions ; their methods of working and creating magic. We were just fortunate to have been a part of that process. That is all. And to spend time with those that had merely heard of them, and to have this great privilege of being able to recount tales of the past, was giving us a sense of thriving in reflected glory. Wonderful !!

Those were precious days. Important and historic. In years to come this generation shall have their own bunch of makers and idols to admire and adore. Our past and present shall be forgotten. The next shall be taking over and life shall move on to the next circle.

Be well and in blessed state .. love

Amitabh Bachchan

ps:  a prayer for Reeham’s grand mother who lies ill .. wishes and all of that which can cure !!