MUMBAI, Oct 11:
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan celebrated his 72nd birthday with a quiet family dinner, saying having his loved ones with him on this day is the greatest gift.
“The hour has passed and the greetings have poured in and the family has been with me and that is the greatest gift, if gifts were to be any judge of affection…,” Bachchan wrote on his blog.
A contemplative star remembered some of his earlier birthdays that were spent in loneliness.
“There have been endless occasions when the day of 11, has been spent in solitude thinking and assessment… They were days of loneliness and of pressure… But when you look back at them you wonder why those days were chosen to be of any pressure orientation,” he wrote.
“But it is not a day to contemplate … It is a time to deliver thanks and gratefulness to all those that have been responsible for my 72 in completion and my 73 to begin…,” the actor added.
Bachchan seemed wistful as recalled his earlier days, saying, “There is a numbness in all that we do now… As opposed to the gaiety and laughter and excitement of the earlier years… I have always wondered why… But it there and it shall remain I presume for the days left in my life.. Its been a long day (sic).”
The megastar later took to his Twitter to thank his millions of fans for their wishes, saying he felt blessed to receive so much love.
“To them that wish for me for my 72nd moving into 73rd.. I have just few words.. I am blessed to have you with me still ..!! Thank you all for your affectionate greetings and love.. they shall ever remain with me… I feel today the luckiest,” Bachchan tweeted.
His actor son Abhishek shared two pictures of himself with the senior Bachchan, mother Jaya, wife actress Aishwarya and sister Shweta Nanda.
Born to Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan in Allahabad on October 11, 1942, Bachchan is the only actor of his generation to have an active and busy career even today notwithstanding his age and popularity of current generation’s stars.
At a time when actors his age play supporting roles, Bachchan gets script written for him and is one of the most sought after stars in Bollywood.
Be it crime dramas ‘Sarkar’ and ‘Sarkar Raj’, subject driven ‘Paa’ and ‘Aarakshan’ or light-hearted films like ‘Bhoothnath’ and its sequel ‘Bhoothnath Returns’, this year, Bachchan has been at the centre of the story.
His upcoming projects include R Balki’s ‘Shamitabh’, Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Piku’, ‘Welcome Back’ and ‘Do’, to be directed by Bejoy Nambiar.
Bachchan made his fiction debut on the small screen with ‘Yudh’ and though the show was not high on TRPs, Bachchan’s performance was appreciated.
This, however, was not the first time the star was coming on TV as he was one of the earliest Bollywood stars to make his small screen entry with reality game show ‘Kaun Banega Corepati’ in 2000.
The show, which came at a low point in his life, when his films were not faring well, catapulted him new peak of stardom and widened his reach.
Bachchan’s charm as a host and his friendly, intimate conversations with the contestants made it an instant success. The series continues to be a TRP gainer even today.
Bachchan is known for his husky, powerful baritone and impeccable style of expressing on screen and humility and modesty in real life.
The actor made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen’s National Award winning film ‘Bhuvan Shome’ and in the same year made his acting debut in film ‘Saat Hindustani’, where he was a part of an ensemble cast. The star was not noted as a performer but success eluded him for a long time. (PTI)
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