IS AMITABH GOD?

Amidst the chanting of hymns, smitten fans of Bachchan on Thursday began a daylong "puja" or worship of photos and models of the matinee idol's bust marking the beginning of a four-month-long "festival" on the matinee idol who also has a wax image at Madame Tussaud's.

To the religious this might be sacrilege. But the 59-year-old Bachchan is set to make the transition from demigod to god for his fans across the world as smoothly as his metamorphosis from the idolized "angry young man" of the 1970s to current goateed, dignified and fatherly image.

And his worshippers certainly left nothing to chance.

"The traditional Hindu way of worship began around 8:30 a.m. First Lord Ganesh (the elephant god) was worshipped, then Lord Narayan and finally god Amitabh Bachchan," S.P. Kamat, state secretary of the Amitabh Bachchan Fans Association (ABFA) told IANS.

Six Hindu priests conducted the ceremony, chanting hymns from scriptures in front of a huge garlanded framed photograph of a young Bachchan at the ABFA club in the Dumdum neighborhood.

Photographs of Hindu gods Ganesh and Narayan also form part of the pantheon.A sculptor from Asansol, 150 km from Kolkata, built a plaster of Paris bust of Bachchan for the ceremony.

"We are a trifle tense because the 'puja' has to end by 7 p.m. and immediately after that begins the inauspicious partial lunar eclipse from 7:07 p.m.," said Kamat.

"A person who has touched so many lives, can he be any less than a god?" asked Rahul Garg, a diehard Bachchan fan, whose advent on the silver screen in the 1960s initiated a new chapter in Indian cinema.

"Today's puja marks the beginning of a four-month-long Amitabh Utsav (festival) to be organized by ABFA chapters across the country," said Kamat.

At the end of it, poor people of the area would be fed in a community feast sponsored by the club. The ABFA will also organize philanthropic activities in honor of Bachchan whose films like Deewar, Zanjeer , Sholay and others form a repertoire of about 100 movies that have redefined celluloid stardom.

About 1,000 patients will be treated at four microsurgery eye camps. Fans will also undertake a campaign to popularize the idea of eye donation. Bachchan and his wife Jaya have already pledged to donate their eyes. On July 8, the ABFA will arrange a blood donation camp for thalassaemia patients, another cause close to Bachchan's heart. The first 500 blood donors would be given free tickets to the first day first show of Bachchan's forthcoming release Aks on July 13.

An exhibition on the life and times of Bachchan will be held in Kolkata from September 28 to 30. Drawing, essay and photography competitions would also be organized as also the screening of his popular films from September 20 to October 4.

The festival would conclude on October 11 with the launch of a book, "Amitabh and I," containing write-ups by people both famous and ordinary, whose lives Bachchan has "touched." The film star has reportedly agreed to launch the book in Mumbai.

ABFA's Kolkata chapter is looking for a suitable plot in the Dumdum area to build the Amitabh Temple, where an idol of the cine star would be installed.

"We have short-listed a few plots and would soon finalize one after which the construction work could begin," said club functionary Aditya Anuragi.

The "rules" for entering the temple would also be unique. A devotee wishing to pray before Bachchan's idol would first have to recite dialogues from some of his famous films. Also instead of religious hymns, Bachchan's dialogues from his films would be chanted during prayer sessions.

A museum on Bachchan is also being planned, which will contain a complete collection of his films, artifacts and other memorabilia.


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