Is Big B not debt-free as yet??

My sincere thanks to all ad makers for not forcing the Brand Big B to endorse Thunderbird in a sixty second jingle, where, our man zips across the Mumbai Pune expressway at an alarming 100 kmph and finally utters passionately “Thunder bird - Albatross on Wheels”, or some such stupid tag line.

My sincere thanks to the entire director guild in Bollywood, for not giving him a so-called “author backed role” as a revolutionary 60 year old college student.

Barring these, the Bacchhan brand is omni present. The 65 year old man is just unstoppable. He is the busiest actor/ brand ambassador in India.

In these times, where retiring at 40 seems to be the in thing, here is a man who is well past the retiring age, and putting everything to ensure that he is right at the top.

This has been a whirlwind four years for him. KBC, announced the rising of the Phoenix. Even if KBC was not the success story it turned out to be, I don’t think Amitabh would have complained. Because, the entire idea behind his accepting the assignment was to repay his humongous dues, for his destined to flop, ABCL venture.

But, due to the sheer charisma of the man, the show was an instant hit. This turned out to be his launch pad to return to Bollywood in style. The first few movies, aroused curiosity value in junta, and soon someone in Bollywood, wrote this law that “Bacchan humein bachaayega”. In some movies, Bacchhan was the protagonist, in some antagonist, in some the main dish, in some the side dish, in some the dessert.

The problem with people like Amitabh and Sachin Tendulkar is that they have built such a goody goody image that they are unable to push back offers, as they might be afraid of a backlash, and media cribbing that they have suddenly become inaccessible and have been blinded by fame.

I am not sure about what the “Janta ki rai” is, but I certainly feel, that the Big B needs a sabbatical. I am sure that he would have by now amassed, enough to float a few more ABCL, and still manage to have enough for his next generations.

And like any family run business, where the patriarch would feel relieved, when his son comes of age in handling business matters, Amitabh would be relieved to find that Abhishek has now got things going his way, after struggling for about three years.

So give the old man a break, and allow him to rejuvenate to make one more comeback in a couple of years. In the meanwhile, let’s check if the Abhishek brand really works wonders in the absence of the Sarkar.