Amitabh Bachchan

Visit to Amitabh Bachchan's House

During one of my visits to Mumbai, I thought of visiting the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan.  I made a phone call which was attended by one of his staff.  I expressed my desire to meet Mr. Bachchan with whom I had a correspondence earlier. He asked me to ring up after 2 hours, perhaps to verify my credentials. After 2 hours I again rang up and I was told that Mr. Bachchan is available right now and he will be leaving in another 2 hours.  I enquired from my friends as to how to reach there. The place was not connected by rail. I rushed to the Railway station and took a ticket to the nearest Railway station of his residence. I had to change at Dadar.  Amitabh’s house was at Juhu. From the Railway station, I took an auto and told the address to the auto driver.  When I was nearing that place, I repeated the address 10th North-South Road, Juhu-Parle scheme etc.   When the auto reached a T point the driver asked me whether to turn to right or left. I told him that I know only the address and not the direction. Then he asked me where I wanted to go. I told him that I want to go to Amitabh Bachchan’s house. The driver quipped “Ye pahle bada dete” (This you could have told me earlier).  After few minutes I reached his house Perhaps I was the only person who visited his house in an Auto rickshaw. It was a bungalow with high rise walls and iron wire mesh. I introduced myself and shown the copy of Amitabh’s letter to the security staff who went inside and enquired. I was allowed entry. Unfortunately, Big B had left the house few minutes earlier.  I could meet Mrs.Jaya Bachchan and Sweta Bachchan.

As a doyen of the film industry and a versatile artist, Amitabh Bachchan has created several immortal characters on the silver screen. Being a trend setter in the Indian cinema, he has the enviable record of adding some new dimensions in the art of acting. Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) became the most popular show on TV due to the charisma of Amitabh Bachchan. Though several luminaries have anchored the show including its regional version in various Indian languages, nobody could match the brilliance of Bachchan. I lost a great opportunity to meet a celebrity personally that too not in the crowd, not in a public function but face to face in the privacy of his house. It was indeed an irreparable loss.