A real eager beaver

Before a tall, thin man became what we know today as Big B or as the very first Angry Young Man of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan went through manifold stages of utmost forcible and financial challenges, which nearly broke him to shatters. In this section, we look at a great piece of work on this great personality - Excellence: The Amitabh Bachchan Way.

Nothing succeeds like Bachchan. This man exhausts every theory in economics. He slept on benches in Marine Drive, became a megastar, lost the glow, his company ABCL went insolvent, but nothing could stop him.

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I would be lying if I say I have read books/novels on Amitabh Bachchan. Lately, I got my hands on a book “Excellence: The Amitabh Bachchan Way.” Now, let me just spill the beans. This book is a real treat for his fans. This book is magic; I held that magic in my hands every day while commuting from home to work and vice versa. It gave a fresh, new insight into the life of this living legend. Every day I was smacking my lips out of the curiosity.

“Writing a book on Amitabh Bachchan has been extremely difficult. At the same time, it has also been very easy,” says the author of the book Virender Kapoor. In a very beautiful manner, the author has analysed each and every trait of Amitabh Bachchan that is inspiring.

It’s right; the story of THE Amitabh Bachchan has been narrated time and again over the last couple of decades. But it was enchanting to witness the narration of this book.

When Amitabh Bachchan wrote a very encouraging letter to his granddaughters, I was deeply touched. He advised them to make their own choices and not worry about what the world will think or who they should get married to.

My love for Amitabh Bachchan, in fact, comes from my parents. My dad loved him; he was at all times eager to watch the first-day first show of all his movies. I fondly remember moments of myself as a little girl watching his movies like Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Deewar, Satte Pe Satta and many more.

I felt like I am seeing the most amazing man in the world.

I don’t know whether you people know it or not, but I was unacquainted with the fact that he was named Inquilaab. Though, at the suggestion of fellow poet Sumitranandan Pant, Harivansh Rai changed his name to Amitabh.

Amitabh Bachchan is not only an artist but a divine guidance for many people across the country. He has witnessed the best and the worst and has yet maintained a demeanour that attracts to one and all.

This book listed down life lessons that we all can learn from this living legend. So now whenever I land myself in tough situations, I try to remember how Amitabh Bachchan must have encountered the hard times in life and not only survived the battles of life but came back with a bang. This is a triumph for me.

The book also quoted Amitabh Bachchan and other great personalities in its different chapters. My fave was ‘Dusro ki galtiyon se sikhen, aap itne din nahi jee sakte ki khud inti galtiyan kar sake.’ (Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live for long enough to make all mistakes yourself and learn from them.)

At the drop of a hat, I can advise you to pick this book as it reveals all his big enigmas of success, and it also instructs one how to get there!

From the November-December 2017 issue of FHM India.