Bachchan festival in Amsterdam
- IndiaGlitz, [Wednesday,September 22 2004]
The prestigious Royal Institute Of Amsterdam is hosting a festival of Amitabh Bachchan films this week.
The four films are Karan Johar's "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham", Rakesh Mehra's "Aks", Ravi Chopra's "Baghban" and Govind Nihalani's hard-hitting exposition on communal riots, "Dev".
The authorities there were apparently keen on screening Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black", which is due for release in December. But "Black" isn't ready.
Says Bachchan: "They had earlier hosted my festival at Amsterdam about six years ago. Apparently I have some fans there." The actor leaves for Amsterdam Wednesday despite a severe eye infection.
Back home, another biography, "Amitabh and I", by late comedian Mehmood's brother Anwar Ali has hit the market.
Says Bachchan, "Actually Mehmood saab, his brother and I spent a lot of time together in my early days in Mumbai. Mehmood saab's sister-in-law is the one to put this book together. I don't mind writings about me by people who know me. But often relative strangers take it on themselves to write about me. That is not fair."
Bachchan has also lent his voice to the poems of Rabindranath Tagore. "The late Anand Shankar's wife Tanushree is doing a ballet where she has put some poems of Tagore to music and dance. She needed a voice. I've done the needful. I always feel honored to lend my voice to worthy causes."
Meanwhile, his birthday is around the corner and apparently the company Eveready is planning to present him with a two-kilometer long card.
"I've no idea what this is. It came out in the press. But I'll believe it when I see it," says Bachchan.