Another interesting interview of the Big B to pop up on the IBN website:
Suhasini Haidar: You have won France’s highest civilian award— the Legion d’honneur. What does this honour means to you?
Amitabh Bachchan: Getting this award was a moment of great happiness, joy
Suhasini Haidar: You get so many awards. Do you ever get tired of them? and pride. More for the fact that France is taking notice of the people in the Indian film industry. Indian cinema is going global and is gathering foreign clientele. It feels great to know that the French have a very strong affliction towards Indian cinema. I hope this enhances our prospects of winning similar awards in other parts of the world.
Amitabh Bachchan: No, not at all. Though I don’t deserve any of these awards, I understand and appreciate the warmth that goes behind them. I accept them with gratitude and humbleness.
Suhasini Haidar: You said that the French honour shows what India means to the world. If you were to fill in the blank—“India is rising because…” what would you say?
Amitabh Bachchan: I think I would go back a few years and say that the whole policy of liberalisation, allowing India open its doors to foreign ventures has greatly enhanced our economy. I believe that as the economy of a country develops, everything about it starts getting noticed, becomes important, valuable and ‘in vogue’. India has suddenly got into the world focus, because of its growing economy. Our food, culture, films, everything is getting noticed. I said in a recent campaign that we are poised to fly high. I believe it’s time for us to take off.
Suhasini Haidar:Talking about campaigns, you just did an ad in which you proclaimed pride in your son, Abhishek. Do we expect to see a different side of yours’ emerging out now?
Amitabh Bachchan: I don’t think there is anything wrong about a father expressing happiness in his son’s achievements. I liked what he did and I wanted to express it. That is what I have done.
Suhasini Haidar:Should we be reading more of such proud notes, now that you son is ready to step out of your shadow.
Amitabh Bachchan: He was never under my shadow. Seeing him achieve more in life fills me with pride. I just want to enjoy the happiness of my son doing well.
Suhasini Haidar: He is doing well and is all set to get married. We have seen you and your family acknowledge the entry of a new member into the Bachchan family—Aishwarya Rai. There have been years when you stayed out of the spot light in terms of your private affairs.
Amitabh Bachchan: To get things in and out of spotlight is up to the media. It is the media that decided to bring us into the spotlight on past few occasions. This is a free country. We all wanted to go to a temple and pray, its as simple as that.
Suhasini Haidar: We have been seeing you a lot at the temples. Is that a reconciliation of your faith in God?
Amitabh Bachchan: You are seeing me a lot because that is how I’m being projected by the media. We have faith in the unseen power of God. We go to the temples a lot and pray. But these are extremely intimate and personal occasions. The media is a free medium. It is free to project publicly what it wishes to project and draw its own conclusions. Media predictions may not entirely be correct at all the time, but what the heck. Let them do what they want.
Suhasini Haidar: There has been this common belief that a lot of puja that is being performed is actually to solve the astrological defects that hinder Aishwarya -Abhishek’s relation.
Amitabh Bachchan: I think that is more media-created than anything else. There is no truth in these rumours at all.
Suhasini Haidar: Were you surprised by all the speculation surrounding the astrological problems in Ash-Abhishek matrimony?
Amitabh Bachchan: Not at all. Media speculation has never taken me by surprise. Abhishek is a prominent person, so is Aishwarya Rai. When public figures do something publicly, it is bound to get noticed. I always tell Abhishek, if you are bugged by that, stop being a celebrity. If you are a celebrity, you are going to be noticed and hence one has to careful of what he does in public. But if you are going to do something in public, be prepared for the fact that people are going to notice you. Media will report what you do and therefore we need to be sure of what we are doing.