मेरे प्यारे और बहुत ही स्नेहपूर्ण परिवार के सदस्य ,

मै अमिताभ बच्चन आप सभी का अभिनन्दन करता हूँ , स्वागत करता हूँ .

मेरे बहुत से ऐसे पढ़नेवाले यहाँ इस ब्लॉग पर , ऐसे भी हैं जो शायद अंग्रेजी मे मुझे लिख नहीं सकते , या उनकी अंग्रेजी शायद इतनी अच्छी नहीं है . इसमे बुरा मानाने की बात ही नहीं है . जो हिंदी मे लिखेगा उसे मै हिंदी मे जवाब दूंगा और जो अंग्रेजी मे उसे अंग्रजी मे . यदा कदा पंजाबी और बंगाली मे भी उत्तर दे दिया करूँगा .

मेरा स्वस्थ अब ठीक है और मै यहाँ अपने मित्र और मेरे परिवार के सदस्य श्री अमर सिंह जी के साथ सिंगापुर मे हूँ . उनकी यहाँ एक ट्रांसप्लांट सर्जरी होनी थी , सो भगवन की कृपा से अच्छी तरह संपन्न हो गयी है . कुछ दिन यहाँ आराम करने के बाद ही उन्हें डॉक्टर जाने की इजाज़त देंगे . तब तक मै यहीं उनके साथ रहूँगा .

इस समय मै अपने चाहने वालों को एक एक कर के जवाब देने का प्रयत्न कर रहा हूँ . ये एक निश्चित रूप से बड़ा ही कठिन काम है , लेकिन मेरा ऐसा मानना है की इसे मै पूरा कर पाउँगा .

शेष समाचार साधारण है ,

आपका ही

अमिताभ बच्चन

The effort continues. The numbers keep increasing, but I labor, regardless. I am using the faster methodology of replying from the Dashboard and Comments section instead of opening up a post and scrolling down to the comments. That is the 35 sec, 27.2222222 process. I have not checked if the yellow is appearing or not. Where I reply now, there is a gentle green line which in time becomes white, so I really have no idea. Do let me know, people, how I am doing and a bit of encouragement in the pursuit of this task, would not do any of you any harm. A huge collective roar would reach the flash lightning and thunder skies that fell upon us this morning.

O, dear O, O dear O, dear… this is a mammoth tragedy. I have just discovered that an entire day spent on replying to comments has not been registered as a yellow line on the DAY. I am so distraught and crestfallen.. How could this have happened !! O, dear !!!

BUT … never you mind. My efforts shall continue. I shall go back to the original form of replies and start all over again. Ah…

The entire morning was spent in ducking inside the room as a severe weather condition prevailed outside. Massive thunder and lightening followed by torrents of rain. And now some hours later it has vanished and gone. All is quiet and peaceful again and life resumes normally.

I wonder when mankind was still finding his feet in this wonderful planet of ours, how would he have reacted to the first bolts from the sky. The sound and the fury and the rain. What would have been his first thoughts. We hear many old tales where the reference to such occurrences were described as ‘the God’s are angry with us’, ‘the fury of the heavens’ and so on. But till science brought out explanations, this must have been a terrifying experience. As I would imagine would be the existence of so many other terrifying experiences - the plague, TB, the flu and so on. They still occur. But somewhere there is a relative comfort in the belief that a cure exists. Cancer and Aids have taken precedence over the malaria and pox’s and gradually we have found that the percentages of a cure for these too is prevailing.

In cinema, Dilip Kumar in his historic performance in ‘DevDas’ died of TB, Rajesh Khanna several years later in ‘Anand’ died of cancer and Tom hanks in ‘Philadelphia’ died of AIDs. It would be somewhat of a Black Comedy moment to say that Indian Cinema or cinema by and large has made progress, because we have kept up with the times ! These were treacherous situations, created for film to enhance drama. We do not rely on them too much these days. Its a more violent death now. A gang war, an attack of terror perhaps. The stories and their drama moulded itself around the prevailing popular circumstances. TB and Cancer and AIDs were considered the ‘in’ element in the story. They were horrid thoughts, but for the sake of drama and screenplay they became an integral part of the play.

I am certain many sensitive readers of the blog will want to debate this issue with their most intellectual and intelligent outputs. It would make for an interesting debate I am sure. What is more sensitive ? The action and crime violence of guns and gangsters and shoot outs, or the misery of a sufferer of an incurable disease ? Is the portrayal of a death scene harmful ? Death through disease, death through accident, death through the gun, what ?? A bit morbid I know, but a topic that we as actors are often faced with and more than often accused of. So lets put it up for the vote and see where it goes. And when the results come in, let us have a healthy debate on this medium and come up with some results. It may help us to understand what people think, and it may help you to understand what we think.

The issue of content in cinema - whether in India or in any other part of the world - has always been an integral base for argument and some very harsh proclamations, both for and against. It has intrigued me through several years of my participation in the field. What kind of entertainment is to be termed entertainment ? How real do we want it to be ? Is it important to portray facts or build fantasy ? Does cinema merely entertain or does it educate ? Should it educate ? How does it affect the morals of society ? Does it effect the morals ? And so many intriguing questions arise. It will be the opening of the proverbial Pandora’s Box, but I think one that may bring some semblance of proportionate argument within our little world of the familia.

I leave early today in the festive spirits that abound among many faiths in and around this time of the year - Ramzan, soon to be followed by Eid and then the Ganpati Visarjan and the relevant pooja’s, the Navratri and then on to Dushehra and then Diwali and Christmas…

What a wonderful world we live in. Where we learn to respect and honor the different celebrations of different faiths. We are the same humans, following different faiths. But ‘faith’ is complete trust, a confidence in someone or something a strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. It is optimism, conviction and hope. All faiths propagate the same meaning. Then why do humans become different !!

In peace and love and faith ..

Amitabh Bachchan