We don’t know what made Anurag Basu
say such a thing about the star of the millennium
but we feel the same way as a respected
industry insider said when asked about Anurag’s
comment. He said ‘ Anurag must stop
drinking whatever he was drinking when he
said that’ (the Big B must retire).
Getting down to what Anurag Basu really
said. He opined that Amitabh Bachchan was
a great actor and that he was a great fan
of the Big. But, of late Amitabh Bachchan
has been getting repetitive on screen and
he must retire before his acting got any
worse. Well, we are not sure whether he
meant what he said or if this is a case
of the wrong choice of words landing him
in trouble. There are some people who think
that the latter is a distinct possibility
because they know Anurag Basu to be a very
soft spoken person who would never make
such a comment, especially about someone
as revered as Big B. We have reason enough
to believe such theories because Anurag
Basu has never been caught in a controversy
before.
We really cannot corner Anurag Basu at this
point of time because he hasn’t got
a chance to vindicate himself. Going by
the row that has picked up he will soon
offer a public explanation as to what he
meant or wanted to convey. Especially, in
these days when a few connected words in
the midst of a casual conversation can be
quoted to create controversy, a non-controversial
man like Anurag must be given his chance
for a defense.
Meanwhile reactions galore have been flowing
in from all directions and most of them
are along the lines of ‘only the Big
B has the right to decide when he should
retire and he needs no advice’. Very
few have actually chosen to target Anurag
directly. There has also been a widespread
opinion that Amitabh Bachchan need not have
reacted to Anurag’s comments. Amitabh
had earlier reacted to the director’s
statement through his newly started blog.
Industry insiders feel that a person of
Big B’s stature need not bother about
such trivialities. As Ram Gopal Verma reacting
to Anurag’s comments aptly quoted
“when an elephant walks, dogs will
bark”. No offense intended.
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