In 2014, Amitabh Bachchan had cycled down Dalhousie on a Sunday afternoon for Shoojit Sircar’s Piku. Two years later, another Sunday in Calcutta saw the actor-director duo come together to shoot an ad film in the heart of the city. Town Hall was the venue with a scooter replacing the cycle. “We wanted an iconic Calcutta location that is also neutral,” said Shoojit.
By noon, the Bolly legend was in Town Hall and by 12.30pm he had started shooting. He revealed no signs of the rib injury suffered during shoot on Thursday. “...did the Ct Scan last night and discovered ... that the third rib is damaged ...” read his blog on Sunday, but that didn’t stop the veteran from keeping his camera commitments.
The Wazir man has been in Calcutta since November-end shooting for Ribhu Dasgupta’s TE3N.
Looking sharp in a suit, Bachchan took pictures of the Town Hall on his mobile phone (picture above by Arnab Mondal) and also filmed a section “on the importance of wearing helmets on the road”.
He is a common crush of the husband and wife. She loves Silsila. He, Agneepath. And, they both make it a point to catch his movies at the theatre. Yes, even Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap! “And most recently we loved Piku,” smiled Dona Ganguly, who along with Sourav and Team Diksha Manjari are all set to welcome Big B on January 12 at
Victoria Memorial to celebrate the 15th birthday of Diksha Manjari. “I wanted Amitabh Bachchan to come for our 10-year anniversary celebrations, but we didn’t want to pressurise him. When he met Sourav for the Champions League Twenty20 advertisement shoot (in 2010), the first thing he told him was, ‘I remember I have to go to your wife’s institute.’ Then we met him during ISL and he remembered that. We also visited him on the sets of Piku and he asked me, ‘What do you want me to do?’ I told him ‘just come and bless us’. This time his secretary called saying he is in Calcutta (to shoot for TE3N). The fact that he being such a big legend remembers our school and that he promised to visit… what else could we ask for… I am very happy!” Dona told Metro, taking a break from the morning rehearsals at Victoria Memorial (picture above by Sayantan Ghosh).
The man himself confirmed this on his blog early on Sunday: “And Saurav Ganguly’s wife Dona invites me to her function on the 12th at the Victoria Memorial Hall .. its been a long pending programme... from the time of the Piku shoot .. so I shall go ..”
Tuesday evening’s programme, being held in collaboration with Victoria Memorial Hall, will see Dona and her troupe perform Odissi pieces like Nava Durga, Ardhanareshwar, Batu and Mangalacharan. “Indian classical dance is supposed to be performed against such a heritage backdrop. It’s going to be a gala night for classical dance,” she said.
For Dona, the idea behind Diksha Manjari was always to “nurture classical dancers” and keep the “Indian culture and tradition alive”.
In keeping with the superstar guest of the evening, around 350 students will be seen moving to Amitabh Bachchan’s Ekla cholo re. Sourav-Dona’s 14-year-old daughter will also be a part of the celebrations. “Sana is also very excited that Amitabh Bachchan will be there! Dance is a hobby for her and she is quite good at it,” smiled Dona.
