Mumbai, June 20: Amitabh Bachchan, along with son Abhishek and bahu Aishwarya, hits the green carpet at the 10th India International Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, held recently in Macau.
As he doles out quotable quotes, a starry- eyed foreign lensman comments: “He (the Big B) is Bollywood’s biggest hero.” The scene is a familiar one seen at almost every IIFA extravaganza, held every year at a different foreign locale.
Over the years, the event, originally meant to showcase Bollywood in its totality to the world, has somehow seemed hellbent on shunning any mention of other superstars of the Hindi film industry – be it Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan or Akshay Kumar – and keep the focus steadily on its brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan and his clan.
Let’s be honest. Having Bachchan as the mascot of Indian cinema on the global platform is a great idea. The Big B over the years has attained an iconic status and respect that far exceeds his celluloid achievements. Over time, he has become the Grand Old Man of Indian cinema.
There are a few obvious questions in this context, though.
Why hasn’t the Big B used his Grand Old Man stature to unite the industry on the IIFA platform? Why did he rather choose to exploit his brand ambassador status to only promote himself, besides, lately, his son and bahu? And why, as a result, do the other big stars of Bollywood choose to seek convenient excuses to skip the IIFA weekend more often than not these days?
Perhaps the foreign photographer did hit the nail on its head, although inadvertently. The IIFA awards over the recent years have become a Bachchan circus after all. So much so, that when the Big B was quizzed on the absence of big Bollywood names at the Macau IIFA, he quipped: “You (the media) are here. What else would I want?” Clearly, the Bachchans are interested only in their own presence – and that of the media, to extract maximum mileage.
Sure, there is a sprinkling of lesser stars at every IIFA, particularly of a bunch who make the annual trip to promote their upcoming films. But what you generally get are the Akshaye Khannas, Lara Duttas, Dia Mirzas, Vivek Oberois, Fardeen Khans and Zayed Khans. An Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif or Priyanka Chopra might turn up for the finalé – only if they have been handsomely paid for a performance at the awards night or have to collect a trophy or two. The moot point is, only the Bachchans are allowed to hog most of the limelight over the three- day spectacle.
Is this how IIFA was perceived by its organisers? What went wrong over the past few years so that this year performances by two of Bollywood’s biggest heroines – Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka – had to be called off in the last minute? Importantly, is a section of the industry irked with the Bachchans over IIFA?
IT’S very difficult for stars to go for an awards function dominated by a particular family. It has happened over the past few years at IIFA ever since the Bachchan domination really started to show blatantly,” says a Bollywood filmmaker, not wishing to be named, who has worked with two of the Bachchan parivar in the past and who was spotted at the Singapore IIFA held in 2004. “It’s time the organisers realised as much. Otherwise, more and more of the top lot will start snubbing IIFA for good.”
—–Agencies