NO TAKERS FOR ‘KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI’?

Big B and Shah Rukh have refused to host the show.

It had altered Amitabh Bachchan’s life forever, but today the show has no takers. Yes, we are talking about “Kaun Banega Crorepati”.

The show gave a new let out of life to Big B’s career numerous years ago. It had marked his enormously successful comeback after a major slump in his career. Bachchan’s fame only soared thereafter.

Today, it’s the show which needs rescuing.

It seems that, producer Siddharth Basu is running from door to door to find some takers as he readies for the fourth season of the game show. Both Shah Rukh Khan and Big B have frankly refused to host the show. Even leading channels like Sony, Star, Zee and Colors have said that they have enough on their hands and are not ready to air the show.

Will this mark an end to KBC, which was at one point of time the biggest attraction on Star Plus?

The relationship between KBC and Bachchan soured when Big B left the show due to some illness. He could not shoot the remaining episodes and later SRK was roped in. Though, Bachchan settled the matter, he actually made up his mind never to work on this show again.

TABU AND BIG B BACK TOGETHER

If not on the big screen for now, the burning couple will be seen boasting the catwalk for good friends and fashion designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla.

Amitabh Bachchan has been wearing Jani and Khosla’s clothes for a while now and wife Jaya pretty much swears by their clothing. Tabu too has been a passionate follower of the designer’s clothing line and it seemed only perfect to have the two walk for them for the HDIL Fashion show. The show begins on October 11th and it is also the day of Big B’s 67th birthday.

The designers are overjoyed that Big B will be walking the ramp for them and told the press, ‘Mr Bachchan has been wearing our clothes for a long time now and we wanted someone who knows our clothes well. And of course, it never gets bigger than Amitabh Bachchan. Besides Mr Bachchan, Tabu is someone who has been wearing our clothes for long too.’ Tabu and Amitabh last sizzled onscreen with their performance in the comical romcom Cheeni Kum, audiences loved their chemistry and are waiting with bated breath to see the two together.

Apart from the fashion show, Tabu and Amitabh will finally be seen onscreen in the period film The Legend of Kunal, directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi. Dwivedi who is known for his expertise in historical cinema has already begun with the pre-production work of the film. The show will be a great teaser to see the two together till they finally grace 70mm again!

BIG B'S FIRST TIME WITH KATRINA

Amitabh Bachchan was recently honoured with a Lifetime of Achievement award by GQ magazine. On his blog, the superstar writes about all the people he met.

Katrina Kaif made her debut with him in Boom. About her, he wrote, ‘Katrina stabs a ‘Hey, it’s me!’ finger punch on my shoulder and we remember old times, the time of her very first film, Boomand how, as a shy, quiet girl, she had been bullied by the director not to ever look into the monitor. She was new and uncertain like most of us, but was keen to see what she looked like on screen. I thought it was a most natural and common desire and one that should have been allowed by the director, but when he did not express its possibility to the rest of the cast, I had dragged her to the monitor and given her the first look of what she looked like, to her. To her credit she still remembers that moment. Later as the film shoot in Dubai came to an end, I had invited all cast and crew to tour the city at night and to perhaps have a bite somewhere. I recollect the embarrassment she and all of us faced when she was stopped from going inside a club, because the man in charge of the door thought her to be underage. And now from a small insignificant part in Sarkar to the most googled and popular star in the firmament, Ms Kaif has come such a long way in such a short time.’

Vishal Bhardwaj was also a recipient at the GQ Awards. Mr. Bachchan wrote, ‘Vishal Bharadwaj is liberal in his speech about success being a branch that breaks easily, but exempts me from his example, and I wonder why.’

Amitabh Bachchan was feeling slightly embarrassed wearing glares, but Saif gave him company. ‘Saif, Kareena and I met back stage as we were either coming up to receive or coming down after. That Saif wore glasses gave me sufficient reason to be comfortable with my own,’ wrote the regular blogger.

The superstar-actor was all praise for Irrfan Khan. ‘Irrfan Khan, that understated yet most effective actor, and I spent time together. I love the way he performs, not just in films but in commercials too and told him so. That phone call from the phone booth before he gets the heart attack in The Namesake is a masterpiece. His cool and casual appearances in the brand advertisements have been emulated on many an occasion. He talks of Muqqadar ka Sikander I talk of his acts and we separate,’ concluded Mr. Bachchan.

INTRODUCING 12 YEAR-OLD BACHCHAN

66 year-old Amitabh Bachchan plays a 12 year-old for the first time in R Balki’s Paa. He will be introduced as a debutant in the opening title of the film.

Director R Balki made the decision as he believes (rightly so) that it is the first time Amitabh Bachchan is playing a 12 year-old and. The Cheeni Kum director said that if there is anyone in India who (possibly) hasn’t seen Bachchan before will not recognize him at all. His character is simply called Auro in the film.

The actor is a school of acting in himself. He was so involved in the film that became the character even when the cameras went off. He looked and behaved like an ill-behaved 12 year-old on the sets. As Auro, he threw tantrums and was hard to control or to discipline. He would run around the place and not sit still till people gave in to his demands.

What’s more is that his character Auro has only 4-5 teeth and that’s because he is addicted to chocolates and ages in reverse. Amitabh Bachchan has been advised not to eat chocolates because of his health issues but he didn’t let that come in the way of his role. He used to relish chocolates on the sets of the film. The reason Auro is a chocolate addict is because he suffers from Progeria and chocolates aides the metabolism of people suffering from this condition.

Balki says that the veteran actor has delivered the finest performance of his career as a 12 year-old and deserves not only the best acting award but also the awards in the child and debutant actor categories.