Amitabh Bachchan turns 77 today but the BIG B is in no mood to celebrate his birthday this year.
“What is there to celebrate? It’s a day like any other. I’m grateful that I am still working, that my body is able to keep pace with my spirit,” he says, humbly urging his wellwishers to pray for his good health.
Amitabh Bachchan Wants No Fanfare on His Birthday . Big B recalls his childhood birthdays when his father, the late poet Harivanshrai Bachchan, would always compose and recite a poem for him.
“It was a family tradition,” the veteran actor recalls, adding: “But this tradition took an entirely new definition when, after my near-fatal accident in 1984 (when he nearly lost his life after a shooting accident on the set of ‘Coolie’), my father recited my birthday poem. It was like a new life for me. While reading the poem my father broke down. It was the only time I’ve seen him like that.”
Big B says things have changed over time, as far as birthday rituals go. “My father’s poetry is much-missed, as is my mother’s excitement on that day. The annual ritual of cake-cutting no longer interests me. It has been replaced by a plate of dry fruits,” he says.
“I want to play the piano. I want to learn many languages. I’d have liked to work with Guru Dutt,” he says about his unfulfilled dreams.
