A few days back, the venerable GreatBong shared a link with me - from way back in the early 1990s. In those days, a film called Agneepath (on which I have dwelt on, in considerable detail, here) had a 'charity premier' in Calcutta for which Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty had both come to town. The link is from a 'video magazine' of those days (Lehren) that chronicled that momentous occasion.
My story of watching Agneepath (first day, second show) is an epic in itself, which I will leave for another day. But I remembered an interesting tidbit from this particular star sortie in Calcutta. At a joint press conference, some journalist had asked Mithun if he felt peeved that in his own hometown, Amitabh was getting more attention. While there was an undercurrent of rivalry between the two, Mithun deflected this by answering - "In a Bengali household, the son-in-law always gets more attention than the son."
Which, in turn, reminded me of yet another star repartee.
When Govinda entered politics and contested Lok Sabha elections from North Mumbai (which includes, among other places, Virar), he was written off as a comedian who would entertain before losing his deposit. The same people who had written off one Amitabh Bachchan (contesting against HN Bahuguna in Allahabad 1984) must have made this prediction as well because Govinda not only won, but won handsomely.
I watched a Hindi news channel interview Govinda after his victory and asked the mandatory question - "aap ko kaisa mehsoos ho raha hain?"
Govinda flashed his gleaming white teeth and said, "Mujhse mere tajurbe ke baare mein bahut sawaal poochhe gaye. Main iske pehle bhi uska uttar de sakta tha. Lekin main chup raha aur Mumbai ke matdataon ka intezar kiya. Aur jab Mumbai uttar diya, Uttar Mumbai de diya..."
* * * * *
What do people do to be seen on TV with a celebrity?
A very reliable source told me about a particular contestant in this year's Kaun Banega Crorepati who sent in more than 1,00,000 SMSes to the show during the elimination rounds.
Yes, you read that correctly. One. Person. Sent. In. One. Lakh. Messages.
Of all those answers, 65000 were correct. And do you know when that guy will be on KBC this season?
Never.
None of those answers made it to the randomizer that selects the final contestants to be on the show. None.
He has the type of luck where he shouldn't be in a flight path because planes would probably fall on him. But then, Amitabh Bachchan is lucky to have him as a fan.
* * * * *
HT recently did a story on Bengalis settled in Delhi and profiled a gentleman called Chittaranjan Pakrashi who stays in - where else - Chittaranjan Park. I once heard of a Saket (Agarwal) who stayed in Saket. I am sure there is at least one Vikas Puri staying in Vikaspuri.
This is so much better than Juhi in Juhu and Anupam Kher in Khar.
(Trivia Alert: In his struggling days, Anupam Kher's address was something like Anupam Kher c/o Mrs Kaur, Khetwadi, Khar).
How many more can you think of?
My story of watching Agneepath (first day, second show) is an epic in itself, which I will leave for another day. But I remembered an interesting tidbit from this particular star sortie in Calcutta. At a joint press conference, some journalist had asked Mithun if he felt peeved that in his own hometown, Amitabh was getting more attention. While there was an undercurrent of rivalry between the two, Mithun deflected this by answering - "In a Bengali household, the son-in-law always gets more attention than the son."
Which, in turn, reminded me of yet another star repartee.
When Govinda entered politics and contested Lok Sabha elections from North Mumbai (which includes, among other places, Virar), he was written off as a comedian who would entertain before losing his deposit. The same people who had written off one Amitabh Bachchan (contesting against HN Bahuguna in Allahabad 1984) must have made this prediction as well because Govinda not only won, but won handsomely.
I watched a Hindi news channel interview Govinda after his victory and asked the mandatory question - "aap ko kaisa mehsoos ho raha hain?"
Govinda flashed his gleaming white teeth and said, "Mujhse mere tajurbe ke baare mein bahut sawaal poochhe gaye. Main iske pehle bhi uska uttar de sakta tha. Lekin main chup raha aur Mumbai ke matdataon ka intezar kiya. Aur jab Mumbai uttar diya, Uttar Mumbai de diya..."
* * * * *
What do people do to be seen on TV with a celebrity?
A very reliable source told me about a particular contestant in this year's Kaun Banega Crorepati who sent in more than 1,00,000 SMSes to the show during the elimination rounds.
Yes, you read that correctly. One. Person. Sent. In. One. Lakh. Messages.
Of all those answers, 65000 were correct. And do you know when that guy will be on KBC this season?
Never.
None of those answers made it to the randomizer that selects the final contestants to be on the show. None.
He has the type of luck where he shouldn't be in a flight path because planes would probably fall on him. But then, Amitabh Bachchan is lucky to have him as a fan.
* * * * *
HT recently did a story on Bengalis settled in Delhi and profiled a gentleman called Chittaranjan Pakrashi who stays in - where else - Chittaranjan Park. I once heard of a Saket (Agarwal) who stayed in Saket. I am sure there is at least one Vikas Puri staying in Vikaspuri.
This is so much better than Juhi in Juhu and Anupam Kher in Khar.
(Trivia Alert: In his struggling days, Anupam Kher's address was something like Anupam Kher c/o Mrs Kaur, Khetwadi, Khar).
How many more can you think of?
Comments
John Hampshire, Yorkshire
Bruce French, England
Wilfred Rhodes, England
Jonty Rhodes, South Africa
Anthony Ireland, Zimbabwe
Bob Holland, Australia
Ronnie Irani, England
Pananmal Punjabi, Gujarat
and so on.
Despite his name, Punjabi came from Karachi, spoke Sindhi, represented Gujarat for most of his first class career, and was employed as a supervisor in Burmah Shell.
Beat that. :)