Big B. took us on a walk down memory lane and shared an anecdote from his life before becoming a hero. You HAVE to hear our podcast to listen to the intriguing story narrated by him!
Meeting and interviewing Amitabh Bachchan marks the biggest achievement in every Indian film journalist’s life. And thanks to my super awesome boss lady, MissMalini (*blows kisses to her*), I managed to tick that off my list at the age of 23. I sat inches away from saakshaat Big B ji and also managed to ask him a question. Before moving on to my question about his love for social media, this is what he said about his upcoming offering, Shamitabh.
It’s a very different kind of a plot. It has not been shown in Hindi cinema before. R. Balki makes films which are very different from the expected stories that you see in Hindi cinema. And it’s quite unique and challenging for actors like me. Shamitabh is a story of two people. One person having something which the other person doesn’t (Dhanush). Then comes the role of Akshara (Haasan), who is a journalist. She is the one who will evaluate the two and get them to come together. The story is around these two people and their egos. He (his Shamitabh character) is frustrated in his life and sometime he takes the help of alcohol. There were many roles in the past where I had played such scenes but in every film the situations and the characters are different. Thus changes the way you perform on screen. But, I strictly believe that drinking alcohol is not good for an actor. There are some actors who drink before doing such a scene but I don’t believe in that and will never do that.
Now, here’s a low-down on five things that Big B loves about social media!
1. Meet & Greet
I think the facility to connect with people. Celebrities or people who kind of gain some kind of public importance. When they release a new film, they don’t get the opportunity to meet the people who actually put them on this pedestal. We don’t see, we don’t hear, we don’t meet the people who go to see our films and show their love and affection. We get to see their love and affection because they repeatedly go and see our films. The commercial return tell us that this film had been appreciated by the people. But we don’t get to meet them or hear them. Social media has made it possible and that’s wonderful I feel. When they get an opportunity to talk to, see and meet the people they’ve admired, that brings us closer together. I am very honored to be on the social media and have the opportunity to talk to people and know what they actually say.
2. Embracing The Criticism
Apart from the fact that it’s a huge opportunity for me, it’s also an opportunity for me to know their true minds. The social media is not necessarily all complimentary. There’s abuse, there’s criticism, there’s suggestion and I look upon it. I take everything. You can’t have everybody saying nice things about you. There are going to be people who dislike you, don’t like your work and will abuse you, criticize you. And I welcome that because nobody’s perfect. But if I can extract something from it which I feel I can repair, within me, then I never let go of that opportunity. And I have found our during my association with the social media that there are many many brilliant minds out there, who will give an assessment for my work, my character or something that I may have said or done or some picture that I may of posted, my hair, my make-up or whatever. And their assessment is so brilliant that I admire them. Sometimes people write rubbish about me but I love social media. That’s a learning graph for me. On my Twitter, Facebook and my own blog, there are some wonderful people.
3. Hearting The Art
Some make very artistic drawings to express their affection and I appreciate that. The way they put it, there’s some amazing artistry that goes on there. They take some photographs of mine, Photoshop it by adding bits and pieces. That’s a work of art. It’s so wonderful to be able to see that.
4. Sharing & Caring
If I see something really nice and valuable, I share it. The people who visit my blog regularly have all become like a family. Everyone helps each other when in need. Most of them know each other just by name but they meet when I arrange their meetings with me.
5. No Hide-&-Seek
People say that an artist should never expose himself. I feel that’s a lot of rubbish in today’s times because the moment I walk out of here, fifty mobile phones will take my photographs. There’s a separate section in various tabloids and websites on our airport outings. Once those photos are out, where is question of being out of reach? Everything is known about me today. Social media has played a pivotal role in bringing us all together and I think it’s a boon.
Lastly, we LOVE you Big B! 🙂
Also, stay tuned to listen to the entire podcast coming soon to blog near you and leave us a comment if you loved hearing Big B’s take on social media!