I was like that

Yesterday a participant on KBC asked the Big B to name the only two letters in the Alphabet from which none of the names of his movies began with. The question took me back to those days where I had made a chart that featured the BigB's movie names starting with each letter of the Alphabet. I also made a list that listed out the movies that had an unusual pairing of a leading lady with the superstar.I used to be so star-crazed and overawed by Mr. Bachchan back then. Not that I am no longer his fan but these statistics don't mean much to me now. I know what you are thinking. You can say that aloud. I am getting old. Hmm..Ok. But WTH, who has not gone through this phase? When I see people much older than I going ga-ga over him on the hot seat, I can only smile and think that I have not been alone in idol-worshiping the actor.


I have watched almost all his movies. Ok, not the ones from the 80s era. That decade is certainly the most forgettable phase in the otherwise glorious career. I have lost count of the number of times I have watched certain movies like Chupke Chupke, Amar Akbar Anthony, Abhimaan, Don, Trishul, Namak Halal..oh the list can go on.... Whether I knew my economics or not, I knew the dialogues of these films by rote and could recognize a film from the background score! Not only the Bachchan ones, I loved watching any sensible movie. I had the reputation of possessing the highest knowledge quotient in the field of films and songs. I also knew all about the latest film releases and was up-to-date with the new songs, actors et all. I would come up with impromptu quizzes like: name a movie that starts with the letter "F" and that paired Sharmila Tagore and Amitabh as the leading pair? I guess it was the only movie. Such quizzes were targeted at the poor folks at home who had labelled me a movie buff and had mastered the art of ignoring me at such times..:-))!

Being married to a guy, who although loved watching movies, was not so movie-crazed, and cared much less about old hindi movies meant losing touch with that part of myself. He has never heard of certain movies or songs, so there was no fun rattling off dialogues or playing an impromptu quiz about songs or movies. So, although we watched movies regularly, the old passion (which anyway was dying a natural death) faded slowly and after the kid entered the scene, even watching movies became a rare event.

Now, cut to the present:
I had my cousin and his wife over sometime back and the conversation veered towards movies. He mentioned that the recent movie they saw was "Shaitan"*.
My reaction: Oh! is there such a movie? Is it a horror one?

Such stand the state of affairs!

* The recent one starring kalki Koechlin and Abhay Deol.

18 comments:

  1. I can so relate to your post. And I loved the subtle humour in them!

    I watched movie like crazy, from middle, last 5 minutes also, I knew some unknown actors/actresses etc.
    After marriage, I got to know many of them because he was a hardcore movie buff and he had an excellent collection of them.

    But, after the kid, watching movie is a difficult task. Still we manage sometimes watching after she sleeps. U can try that, if R sleeps early and hubby approves. AND remember. :)

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  2. I am not a big fan of Big B but if you were to talk about SRK I had a similar crush on him. It's sometimes fun watching all those movies you've loved over the years :)

    Even I am totally out of touch even about the latest songs/movies of SRK let alone other actors :)

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  3. Who doesn't love AB? Such charisma and charm!! My mil who is past 60 admits that her heart still flutters when she sees him :) I love all the movies you have listed, tho my knowledge of them is I am sure not as encyclopaedic :) Btw whats the sharmila tagore-AB movie? I could google it but you tell me:) I can only think of chupke chupke and viruddh :( Were there many more?

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  4. Errr...so which are the alphabets darling...you didnt tell us that :)

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  5. Sahana: yeah, me..could watch the movie from the middle too..now when I think of those days, it seems like a different lifetime or a different person..:-)
    Even after R sleeps, we are so tired to catch up on a movie..although we sometimes watch some English movies on TV..that's also becoming a rare thing these days... need more hrs in a day!!

    MyEra: ah..fan of SRK, is it? Life after a kid changes so much na??

    Aparna: Totally..what charisma!!! :-)) His movies would lift my spirits when I was low..imagine how I crazy I was!
    It is Faraar. Viruddh is a recent addition..at that time it was the only one. In Chupke Chupke they were not paired romantically with one another..
    hahaha @ being encyclopaedic..

    RM: aah..am out of touch now..but I think it is "u", "Q" and also "x"..:-)))

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  6. Hey Uma, Nice to come across this AB loving side of you :). Add me also to the list, I mean who doesn't love him, except maybe to just be contrary to everyone else ;). He is one of the most charismatic actors and seems to look/emote even better with age.. not that I didn't like his youthful movies ! Feel the same about Sean Connery - I like his aged, still charismatic look much better than his young-look :).

    Nice to get to know all the trivia, I can't claim such thoroughness, but if i see his movie on TV anytime, 99%(Unless mommyhood interferes!) I will sit down to watch the rest of it :).

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  7. Aparna: Amen to that!
    and yeah..i was in general a movie buff..not just the AB movies, I loved the Deepti Naval- Farroak Sheikh- Naseeruddin Shah- Hrishikesh Mukherji genre too..:-)))

    But somehow movies on TV have become so repetitive. I have lost the interest I used to have!

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  8. I am a huge AB fan too , though I dont think I've seen all this movies..there is also a new Shaitan,i think. From the Anurag Kashyap stable.

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  9. Bhargavi: Yay to that!!! join the fan club!
    and err..I was talking about the new Shaitan...there is smaaal p.s. at the bottom that says it. BUT i didn't know about it when my cousin mentioned...:-)

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  10. you are not alone:| am sure it would have been different if the hubby shared the same enthu/interest.. the other day, people at work gave me that 'are-you-from-mars' look when i looked surprised on hearing that Shruti Hassan is paired with Surya in 7-aam Arivu (i bet you haven't heard of the movie:))!

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  11. Vidya: Muhahahaha...I HAVE heard of 7-aam Arivu...maybe i am not losing my golden touch as yet..!!!..:-))
    actually, cannot put all the blame on hubby squarely..situations, priorities, all change at some point or other..na?
    paah! too much of tatvam, illa?

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  12. Oh god, too much :)) I have heard of Faraar, haven't seen it though.

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  13. Hi Uma,
    Well, i had a huge crush on hrithik roshan... i had literally gone mad over him when kaho naa pyaar hai was released... so even i can relate to your post... is it warning that people who are fond of movies should marry movie buffs???? ;)

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  14. Radhika: Imagine the madness if every movie buff were to marry another...the world needs some balance and sanity, I say! :-)

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  15. the scene is opposite in our case. Husband watches (& has watched) so many movies,B,C,D,E,F - all grades movies... and I probably know only Ranbir Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan famous movies. so cannot comment much on that. :)

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  16. Purnima: hmm..well..in my defense I can say that I cannot watch all grade movies..no slapstick comedy or gory or extremely senti movies...:-)

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