Daijiworld Media Network
Patna, Aug 4: Amitabh Bachchan spent about an hour with the Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar at his residence here on Wednesday. Family members of Nitish, and staff members of the CM were present during the visit of the mega star. He is here to promote his upcoming movie, 'Aarakshan'. While Bachchan's visit to the city on Wednesday gave rise to a sense of euphoria among the city dwellers, Big B himself lavishly praised the progress of the state's capital since he last came here.
Big B said he had travelled around the city in a vehicle and was astounded at its all-round development. “This is quite different from a metropolitan city. It definitely looks better. The ambience of the city has changed for the better,” he said, making no bones about his appreciation for the progress being achieved by Bihar in all fronts.
Amitabh, who is here after a gap of several years, said that he has seen tremendous development in the city, duly giving credit for this change over, to Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar. Replying to queries of the media, Nitish said he is also a fan of Amitabh, and added that he also happens to be a fan of Dilip Kumar and Devanand.
Talking about his movie, 'Aarakshan', the celebrated actor expressed his anger at the prevalence of caste system all over the country. He felt this had robbed the citizens of the country from getting equal attention and opportunities. “The people belonging to lower strata of the society and economically backward families should get proper support from the government,” he said. He also praised the 'Super 30' initiative of Anand Kumar, a maths wizard from the state. He appreciated Anand for his selfless services for the meritorious students from the state.
It is gathered that Amitabh had taken tips from Anand for donning the role of a principal in the above movie. The actor however, was evasive when questioned about his view on reservation system. While admitting that such concerns will continue to be voiced, he said that continuance with the system of reservation is a constitutional reality of the country, and expressed himself in favour of allocation of quotas based on economic backwardness. About the gender differentiation, he said, “I can never treat different genders differently. My children, Shweta and Abhishek, will get equal share in my property. I will ensure that through a will.”
Amitabh was at ease in fielding irrelevant questions too. Contrary to his on-screen 'angry man' image, he remained calm and composed. When someone asked him whether he expects to get a grandson or granddaughter out of Aishwarya's pregnancy, he quipped, “dear sir, I am not pregnant.” About another query as to whether he is in favour of doing a film on corruption, he said he is prepared for it and would ask Prakash Jha to do the needful. Bachchan confessed that he had worked free for two Bhojpuri films, as he is fond of that language.
Prakash Jha, director of 'Aarakshan', accepted that making this movie was a tough task. He said he felt the need to review the system of reservation, after observing that the parents in the country have been giving top priority to educating their children, irrespective of their economic condition.
Manon Bajpai, who is from Bihar, and who has worked in the movie, recalled that he used to flee from his home to visit Patna for watching Big B's movies. He confessed that he was inspired to turn into an actor after seeing Amitabh's movies. As surging crowds vied with each other to come close to Amitabh, Bajpai told Big B to bear with the inconvenience, duly explaining that the people of his state are not undisciplined, but that there are merely simple and sentimental people, fuelled by enthusiasm about everything.