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The month of December redefined relationships but also reiterated certain existing perceptions.
When his mother, Teji Bachchan, passed away on December 21, Amitabh Bachchan didn’t just perform his duties as a son — he showed a very understated, sensitive side to his personality at the chautha held in the compound of Prateeksha, his Juhu bungalow. All his life we’ve seen the UP-ite in Bachchan. Whether it was his strong ties with Allahabad right from his birth or his socio-political standing in the state, it was Uttar Pradesh that dwarfed everything else.
However, Mrs Teji Bachchan was once Miss Suri, a well-spoken, westernised Sikhni with fierce loyalties and a mind of her own. For his dad, Dr Harivanshrai Bachchan’s chautha, AB had organised a beautiful evening of bhajans by Hariharan. But for his mom, Amitabh had thoughtfully got a Ragisaab and his group of dignified Sikhs to sing kirtans appropriate to the occasion. Amitabh had, as always, planned it all so perfectly that Mrs Teji Bachchan’s celebrity-son, a shawl over one shoulder, started the evening by taking the mike. When words are inadequate to describe how you feel about your mother, what do you do? Amitabh had a handy reference he could fall back on and he did — he simply opened his dad’s autobiography and read out the chapter where Dr Bachchan had described his first meeting with Miss Suri and their undeniable chemistry. At any time, you couldn’t get a better person than Amitabh Bachchan to read aloud a passage from any book. But this poignant occasion gave deeper meaning to the reading where, at one stage, Amit paused ever so briefly to check his emotions.
The Prateeksha garden too never looked so elegantly sober. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, the fabulous designer-duo who is an important part of the Bachchan parivar, had used a green and deep burgundy combo all over. A quiet off-white backdrop and strips of off-white cloth overhead formed a canopy that alternated the open sky with the material; the green trees, plants and ferns were caught at the waist like a curtain with a photograph of Teji Bachchan as a young bride at the entrance, the same picture repeated on stage. There was Teji’s handwritten note on love which formed a part of the backdrop on stage and contrasted with two other lines that were written by her in frailer health. Actually, you didn’t need words to describe Amitabh’s ode to his mother — his arrangements and his dignity said it all.
His caring ‘thank you’ smses to every person who sent his condolences only reiterated how perfectly he takes care of a delicate situation.
December was also the month that reiterated what a well-rounded film-maker Aamir Khan will one day be. Taare Zameen Par was a wonderful debut but it is, unfortunately, not the blockbuster it should have been. Aamir and his financial backer (the PVR group) have got their cash back and much more (a neat, table profit of 10 crore plus) with the satellite, overseas and music rights. But TZP, which should have been trimmed ruthlessly by almost half an hour, deserved a much better reception at the box-office. Imagine, a no-brainer like Welcome (released on the same day as TZP) has made more money than Aamir’s sensitive handling of a dyslexic nine-year-old.
Perhaps a more approachable, media-friendly Aamir Khan should emerge from TZP if he wishes to make more movies that he believes in. Currently, Aamir enjoys the image of a man who has hassles on his home front; a secret, private life he keeps well-guarded; an actor who has controversial opinions (like his stand on Narmada which has annoyed the state of Gujarat) that he airs with arrogance; a stubborn man who won’t bend to please. Now that everybody has grown up and has hopefully got rid of old chips on the shoulder (like his cold stand on awards and the media), it would be heart-warming to see Aamir Khan connect as a person with his audience and not as a distant star who sometimes comes zameen par to promote his film.
While Aamir Khan’s need to turn admiration into love will be a lofty change, the flippant Salman Khan has also redefined some of his relationships. There is trouble in paradise with the Katrina-Akshay Kumar chemistry being the talk of tinseltown. There is a streak of independence in her choice of celluloid wardrobe which is slowly veering towards what the competition is revealing, sorry, wearing.
As we go to press, Bipasha Basu is back in Mumbai after shooting for Rituparno Ghosh in Calcutta. She’s putting on her dancing shoes for the nearly Rs 1 crore performance she will be doing at the Marriott this New Year’s Eve. Wails constant companion and designer Rocky S, “I’ll be working too on the 31st this year.” He will be backstage with her as he has designed all her outfits (including a short, siren-red dress and the mandatory ghagra-choli for Beedi jalaile…) and will style her too for this special show.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is managing editor of Movie Mag International