'I ask you, is it a sin to go to the temple?'
- hindustantimes.com
In a freewheeling conversation with Indrajit Hazra, Amitabh Bachchan talks about the media, his views on being described as a ‘propagator of superstition’, and his advice to his son...
The last six months have been interesting times for you — your career as an actor is in the spotlight again, your son got married, and there were cases filed against you in the courts. How has it been for you in the last half year?
What I’ve been realising over the past two days I’ve been talking to the media is that a lot of things that we felt were trivial have been actually taken up quite seriously [by the media].
You didn't expect that?
Obviously not. Because we thought that some of them were laughable. For instance, the whole manglik thing [about Aishwarya marrying Abhishek would bring a curse into the family]. And because it was so ridiculous, we never paid attention.
But when you heard about it, didn't you immediately want to scotch such talk?
You know, if I was to sit down and try and scotch everything that comes out in the newspapers I wouldn't have the time for anything else.
So how did this sort of thing come about?
I think it all began with the electronic media suddenly airing...no, it actually began earlier with the association, or the media's attention on the association between Abhishek and Aishwarya and the speculation of some kind of union. And what happened subsequently were perceptions, speculations that were astrological in nature. Then one day we saw some astrologer coming on television saying that this is her [Aishwarya's] horoscope, it's not right, so on and so forth.
Then you had shots of my brother [Ajitabh] being interviewed saying that he didn't know anything about this. The accusation was that my brother took Aishwarya's horoscope and this is what the astrologer said. Even I haven't seen Aishwarya's horoscope till today. Neither has she.
Two people have decided to get married. That's all that matters to me. My son called me from New York - he and Aishwarya had gone for the premiere of Guru. "I've proposed to her and she has said yes," he said. I said, "Come home". We still don't know what this manglik is.
You don't think this is part of the larger political campaign against you? The court cases involving farmland and tax evasion?
The government has more important things to do than to hound me. Everyone of us has the law to deal with. These things come up in a routine fashion. And if I may say so, sir, it [the manglik business] still hasn't stopped. And that's very tragic. That even after she has become the wife of my son, they are still saying she's this and she's that. I believe she's a blessing to the family. We will not tolerate any of this nonsense.
How do you respond to charges that you're superstitious and by being in your position you end up encouraging superstition for millions?
I'm just practising a very normal human practice of going to the temple. But the insinuation is that they [the Bachchans] are going to the temple to get the manglik removed. This is rubbish. Four instances, I'll tell you.
The first one was when we went to Benares. It was the 27th of November, my father's birth anniversary. When my father passed away [in 2003], the Government of India issued a stamp in his honour the next year. The stamp was released by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Atalji and my father had been very close associates. He came to inaugurate the function and in his speech he said that he wanted every year on the 27th of November to be celebrated with a Kavi Sammelan in Lucknow. For the past year, my mother has been critically ill. She has been hospitalised with Alzheimer's and dementia. We have traditionally always celebrated Holi and Diwali as festivals opening our house to everyone. We did not celebrate last year because we felt that this celebration would be insensitive. When my father's birthday came up last year, we all felt that it would be improper to have the celebrations. Jaya was shooting in Benares… Laga Chunari Mein Daag, I was in Bombay, Abhishek was shooting in Delhi. Aishwarya happened to have been passing through Delhi, they were seeing each other. Jaya said, "Look, it would be nice if all of us could come and pray in the Sankatmochan Temple in Benares. It's dad's birthday, the whole family will get together." That's all that it was. The whole thing just repeatedly came coming that they've gone there to get rid of the manglik curse.
Then they got engaged in the early part of January. 24th January was Amar Singhji's birthday. We went to Vidyanchal. It's a temple that he believes in. He wanted to marry off 50 underprivileged couples. He said that he spends a lot of money throwing parties in Delhi …rather give it to charity. It's a temple where his children had their mundan. So we all went there. That's all we did.
Then the whole thing was put up, 'Oh he's going to Siddhivinayak Temple to pray.' I've been there many times. Siddhivinayak, every Tuesday, has a very fine aarti and people walk on Monday night at midnight from all parts of the city. I've done that many times. But now it's being insinuated that I went there for the manglik thing.
The notion that you propagate superstition by repeatedly going to temples has been doing the rounds.
I ask you, as a citizen, is it a crime to go to the temple? And if I am propagating superstition by going to the temple, then the whole country is propagating superstition. And what about the TV channels and the media? Please stop those TV [religion and faith] channels immediately! What about the print media? Don't you print horoscopes? Some people quoted works of my father and said his father was a staunch agnostic, he never believed in all this, how come his son is propagating superstition. My father was nothing like that. He is not alive to defend himself. I think it's unethical for people to refer to him in this manner.
