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.