BACHCHAN HAS TO DECIDE

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is facing a huge dilemma. From the time his close friend Amar Singh has been expelled from the Samajwadi party (SP), both Bachchan & Singh have been looking for a new political patronage. Given the number of controversies the Bachchans have been involved in, it is imperative for them to get some concrete political shelter.

Bachchan’s parents shared a very close & cordial relationship with the Nehru-Gandhi family. Bachchan himself was a very good friend of Rajiv Gandhi. But things changed drastically after Rajiv Gandhi’s death. The two families started drifting away and reached a point where the bitterness with the two was out in the public. In the 90’s when Bachchan was going through financial crisis, the Gandhis didn’t do much to help them out. It was during this period that Amar Singh’s proximity to Bachchan grew and eventually also brought him closer to Amar Singh’s Samajawadi party. In the early part of this decade Amar

Singh, Amitabh Bachchan & industrialist Anil Ambani became to be known as the famous ‘A’ group. This was also the time when the Samajawadi party was not only growing in UP but also had a strong growing influence in Delhi. But for the last 4 years Samajwadi Party has been on the decline. And during that period Amar Singh’s open fight with Samajwadi’s top bosses also didn’t do much good for the Bachchans. And now with Amar Singh out of Samajwadi, things are looking dicey for the Bachchans & Singh.

Bachchan’s proximity to Bal Thackeray has been growing for years even during the time he was in SP. Though last year when Jaya Bachchan (Amitabh’s wife) had to face Raj Thackarey’s rage for insulting the so called sentiments of the Marathi people, Bal Thackeray did not back him publicly. Surprisingly just a couple of months back the Shiv Sena went on a rampage against Shahrukh Khan for criticizing the non-selection of Pakistani players in this edition of the IPL. Where as on the other hand no one including Bal Thackarey even uttered a word against Amitabh Bachchan even though he publicly criticized the non inclusion of the same Pakistani players in the IPL and he was also the brand ambassador of the peace initiative by the two leading English dailies of India & Pakistan.

But given Bal Thackeray’s declining power & influence in national politics & with no Samajwadi to back him anymore, Bachchan needs to look for new political friends. Last month to everyone’s surprise Bachchan landed up in Gujarat to screen his latest hit ‘Paa’ for none other then Narendra Modi. A new friendship was seen brewing between the two when Bachchan immediately agreed to become the brand ambassador for the state of Gujarat. This growing proximity between Bachchan & BJP’s posterboy has send ripples across political circles. But another stunner came this week when Amitabh Bachchan was invited by the Congress government in Maharashtra to inaugurate the 2nd phase of the famous Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai. While just a year back the 1st phase of the same sea link was inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi. This latest invitation is seen by many in political circles as an indication by both the Congress & Bachchan for a public patch up. And this would have never been possible with out the permission of Sonia Gandhi.

It would be interesting to see in the near future which party will Bachchan publicly show more inclination. With bollywood always landing in the middle of some political conspiracy or the other, Bachchan is trying to keep good terms with all the parties. But on bigger issues it would be imperative for Bachchan to take a clear stand. With Shiv Sena on the political downslide and Raj Thackeray waiting for an opportunity to attack Bachchan again, Bachchan will have to make sure that atleast one out of the Congress or BJP gives him political protection. The emperor of bollywood desperately needs allies for future security. This script could end up having a much more thrilling climax compared to any other superhit bollywood movie would have had.