A recent tweet that wished death for Amitabh Bachchan has made the actor very angry
The strongly worded response of megastar Amitabh Bachchan to a troll has left many stunned. The 77-year-old actor, revered for his superstar status and his gentle, endearing conduct on a reality show, has reacted in a way his fans least expected.
Currently recuperating in a Mumbai hospital, along with his son Abhishek, after both tested positive for Covid-19, Mr. Bachchan was replying to a tweet from an anonymous person who wished him dead. “I hope you die of Covid-19 infection’ tweeted the person. In a blog written late at night a couple of days back, the actor allowed his fury to flow unrestrained. “Hey Mr. Anonymous, you don’t even write your father’s name because…you do not know who fathered you…” he wrote. He took to threatening as he continued to write, “You shall have to be weathering a swipe storm not just from me… but from 90+million followers…”, and ended with an ominous, “All I shall say to them is : Thok do saale ko.”
Unbridled adulation
During a career that stretches beyond five decades, Mr. Bachchan has enjoyed unbridled adulation of his fans, admiration of the critics and appreciation from his fraternity. From the seventies till date he has had a dream run and with each super hit that he has delivered he has continued to earn the respect of his fans who span three generations. So much so that the Bachchan family enjoys the status of the first family of Bollywood.
There is no denying that the actor has always had an aura around him even when he arrived in Bollywood in the sixties. He is the son of a highly regarded poet, Harivanshrai Bachchan, his family had close ties with then prime minister Indira Gandhi, and her two sons Rajiv and Sanjay were his personal friends. Notwithstanding the connections, Mr. Bachchan had his own share of struggles and it was only after giving a slew of flops that he could finally savour success with Prakash Mehra’s megahit Zanjeer in 1973. Sholay cemented his position in the industry and from then on there was no looking back. The films and the characters he played also got him the tag of ‘Angry Young Man.’
Health scares
The actor’s dream run was marked with many health scares including the near fatal accident which he had on the sets of his hit film Coolie. Be it the political storms that he had to face subsequent to his contesting Lok Sabha elections in eighties, or the lull in his career in the nineties, he would always emerge victorious riding on the strength of the love, prayers and blessings showered on him by his fans.
Throughout the rough and tumble of his five decades career, Mr. Bachchan has managed to keep his dignity intact. He has been politically correct to a fault, has been seen doing right things at the right time be it charity or lending his persona to socially relevant issues and has kept himself engaged with his fans through social media platforms.
Though his fans inundate him with messages of love, good wishes and concern, trolls and criticism are not new to him. In this age of irreverence, he suffers them in sufficient amounts.
Sharp reaction
So, what is it that made him react so sharply? To begin with it is the viciousness of the tweet. Coming at a time when one is already ailing along with other members of family, it stung him badly. He later also quoted writer Munshi Premchand: “Sansar main gau banney se kaam nahi chalta, jitna dabo utna hi dabatey hain,” giving a perspective to his previous writing and also sending out the message that he is no mood to take it lying down anymore.
The manner in which totally unknown people can reach celebrities and heap insults on them through social media platforms has been troubling people in public life. What makes it worst is that an angry reaction to a troll fetches even more of them and the language turns filthy. One has to just check the comment section of a news about successful persons or the thread of a tweet to know how vitriolic the attack gets. This from people who are unrelated and know nothing about them.
Sitting ducks
Freedom of speech that twitter or facebook offer is increasingly being misused to vent frustration and angst. Celebrities and successful people are sitting ducks for such attacks as personal failures and lack of success gets juxtaposed that much sharply and creates an unjustified feeling of jealousy and having missed out. There is a growing tendency to hoot out famous people and belittle them with random below the belt remarks. For the low lives, trolling a celebrity is a catharsis that gives them their two minutes of fame.
We all have to behave ourselves. We just can’t throw insults at people who have earned their laurels, from the safety of anonymity and distance that social media platforms provide.
It is absolutely understandable why Mr. Bachchan responded in the manner in which he did.
But what is also true is that the persona of angry young man has now morphed into a picture of a smiling, gentle patriarch.
Let’s keep it that way, Mr. Bachchan.
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