The Big B, The KBC, and Me!!

Feb, 2001 Mumbai....

"Big B" or Amitabh Bachchan...,every Indian knows him, as the most popular movie star of Indian Hindi Cinema. We as kids grew up watching him, falling in love with him, and later with his family also...as if they are of our own family! How can I forget my sister who was a big fan Jaya Badhuri , and later as Jaya became Amitabhs wife, so did my sister transfer her devotion and love from Jaya to her entire family! Amitabh, Shweta, Abhishek along with Jaya Bachchan became names and topics of my sisters family , and I was not at all surprised when my sisters little son grew up listening to Michale Jackson and watching Amitabh Bachchan in USA! The kid who did not know a word of Hindi or any other Indian language can easily understand and converse thanks to the amount of Amitabh movies he has seen, and collected over the years as his personal possessions.Hero worships, fan followings are always a part and parcel of growing up and celebrities and stars.., I am sure they would not mind nor know how crazy a fan can be, or become, if not dangerously obsessed! I was neither of the two, though I liked Amitabh and his movies, since his movies had that extra something always in them. My kids were raised in India, in the normal way, so they were a part of Bollywood, but not overly obsessed about any actor or actresses of their times or mine! My daughter was fascinated with meeting and making new friends on the net which was the happening thing in late 90s..! She being just a teenager I knew how difficult it is gonna be to control her so I cautioned her about the good and bad in it, and left her to grow up along with the on line chats...! In one of the chats she met some one, thru some one..( ha..!!) who said he is connected to the making of KBC..or the Indian version of "who wants be a millionaire", called "Kaun Banega Karodpati"! (KBC). My daughter thought this guy is kidding, since KBC was the hot show on air at that time, and she could not believe she was talking to some one who is in the production side of it! Since she told me about this, we both watched the last part of the show when they use to show the names involved, and YES, this persons name was there to our surprise! Wow...this is for real..is all we thought and forgot for the time being!

I was returning from USA after a month long trip with my family, and that is when my daughter called and asked me if I would like to go for the KBC studios to see the shooting! Why not, I thought sure..since anyways I will be landing in Mumbai, before going to Mangalore! As I shared this news with my sister, her son requested me, if I get to meet Mr.Bachchan, I need to give him a VCD cassette which had all possible dance numbers of Mr. Bachchan danced by my sisters son!Yes, during his graduation this teenager showed his American, Indian friends, how much he hero worshipped Mr. Amitabh Bachchan by performing Mr.Bachchan's dance numbers for some 2 hrs! That was a true fans tribute I felt, and I promised I will surely give it to Amitabh if I get to meet him! I landed early hours in Mumbai along with my husband who was not keen to be a part of this, but anyways became one!! I hesitantly called the contact given by my daughter first thing in the morning. The contact was right and so was the person and he asked us to reach Film city sharp by 10 am. WE reached and were disheartened to see the security, but nevertheless when we mentioned the name of the person we wanted to meet, we were immediately asked to come in, and met this young Punjabi production in charge, right there. He was very nice and happy to meet the parents of his online friend, and asked me, where I would like to sit for the show..?, and I had no words but to say I don't care as long as I could see Mr. Bachchan! We were taken inside the studio, which looked exactly like how it is shown in the program. Completely air conditioned, and packed with people, 10 contestants waiting for the fastest finger first round...! That days shoot was continuity of the previous day, so they already knew who is going to sit on the hot seat...! I was given a seat next to a lady, later I got to know she is the sister of the hot seat contestant! The show began or so we thought..as the crew came to do a mock rehearsals with the contestants and the audience! One person spoke exactly like Amitabh, and made the 10 people play fastest finger first, and then the chosen one came to sit on the hot seat. The audience were briefed of every little thing, when to clap, how to behave, how much silence t be maintained, etc..lastly we even got a chance to play the audience pole.All in all the mock was so serious and engrossing, we all were totally in to the show,...just when everything became silent and we realised Mr. Bachchan is on the sets. Then on wards it was like magic. He was so humble, so polite, some what humorous, and behaved just how we see on the real show. For me it was too much to digest, too real to believe! The contestant came to the hot seat and the next 20 minutes went on very smoothly with questions and answers , and very occasional breaks, for make up touch ups, or to drink water etc! It got over, and just the way he came he was just gone, before even we realised! I was still not come out of the dizziness of seeing him or watching the shoot, and then I realised my promise given to my sisters son! I rushed out to meet the person who made it possible for me to watch the shoot, and sure enough he was waiting outside. WE thanked him profusely, and requested him to do this small favour of delivering the vcd given by my nephew! He surprised me, by asking why would we not like to meet Mr. Bachchan ourselves, and give what ever we want to? I was totally ecstatic, and so we entered his make up room. Amitabh make up room was more like a small bungalow, where he relaxes in between shots and rests or eats etc..! We waited for him just for few minutes and he was right there in front of us, standing tall! WE were so thrilled, happy to be face to face with the most famous star of the millennium, we had no words..! He was Graceful, good looking,Taller,fairer and thinner than I thought...He made us feel very comfortable, by asking our names, and what we do, and where we came from etc, and before I forget, I opened my mouth to tell him about my nephew and how big a fan he is, and so giving him the VCD cassette. He accepted it humbly and commented, "in the times of Salmans and Hritiks I am surprised a young boy of 19, from USA has chosen me as his favourite and sent something as a tribute", so he said he is surely gonna watch it in his van during his travel! With that assurance after taking the details of my nephew he asked if he can do anything more, for which I requested him to pose for a picture and he obliged willingly, I came out with beaming face. The person in charge was waiting for us, and so we were not only treated as VIP guests to lunch with the crew etc but also were sent to our hotel by one of the studio vehicles! wow!!what an experience! I was totally in delirium,...when I reached Mangalore and was waiting for the show to be aired! The day the show was aired, we were sitting glued to our TV screens, and as the program started what do I see but myself, first ..and the rest later! ha...! Our phone kept on ringing as our friends and relatives who recognised us, and called us to congratulate after confirming it was us, there in KBC! Of course,we recorded the program as I was shown 13 times on the screen...(ha..) yes a special request from the Punjabi boy to the film shooter i got to know! Wow! And later heard from my nephew that he received an email from Amitabh, and also met him back stage where he recognised when he said, "my aunt met you and gave you the VCD story" during one of Mr. Bachchan's stage shows in USA. My daugter is still in contact with the Punjabi friend, who himself is in to movie making now! This is all for real but feels like a dream when I sit and watch Mr. Bachchan's KBC now in 2010! Nothing much has changed from then to now I felt, the same chaming, humble him, the same us, except more money to win now!!Wow..KBC and the Big B...!!