Why Hindi sevaks dislike Amitabh Bachchan?

Remember when there was a huge furore from the so-called champions of Hindi, or you may call them 'Hindi sevaks' when Amitabh Bachchan was invited to speak at the World Hindi Conference held in Bhopal in 2015. "Harivansh Rai Bachchan was an author but why was his son Amitabh invited to the event?" they asked with almost contempt.Can you name any Hindi writer or poet whose body of work generates any kind of curiosity among people outside India? Notwithstanding this hard fact, the Hindi 'sevaks' protested tooth and nail when Amitabh Bachchan was invited to address. They were arguing that Amitabh Bachchan has no claim to fame in popularising Hindi. This is sheer travesty of facts. Avid film buffs across continents have been huge fans of Amitabh Bachchan since long and love to watch his films.

While the self- pro-claimed Hindi 'sevaks' are well-within their right to speak for or against anybody, it is high time that they must candidly accept the phenomenal contribution of AB and his ilk in popularizing Hindi among second and third generation Indian origin people settled outside India.

And if I talk about Amitabh Bachchan, his popularity transcends boundaries. He is a 'monarch' of even Egypt. The people in the Land of the Pharaohs have been showing their love for Amitabh Bachchan films since the 80s. My Cairo trip of 2006 was an eye-opener for me. As I came out of the Cairo International Airport, many people start calling me 'Amitabh Bachchan.' I was thrilled that perhaps i look like him. When i checked-in my hotel facing the gigantic Nile River, again some people called me Amitabh Bachchan. I was in heaven with these compliments. Now, I asked my host as to why people are calling me Amitabh Bachchan? Do I look like him ? Smilingly she replied," Amitabh Bachchan is an icon here. He is more popular that Hoshni Mubarak. Those were the days when Mubarak was the President of Egypt. His films are greatly liked by us. We recite songs of his films," adding " Both I and my mother considers him as our boyfriend." Then she started singing Don's iconic number 'Khai ke Paan Banaras Wala.' Honestly, you have to visit Egypt to know the kind of iconic status he has there. And such a figure is treated with contempt by those who have virtually no claim to fame in terms of writing any brilliant prose or poetry.

In America, Singapore and East African countries like Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, most of the undergraduates of Indian and South Asian origin watch his movies to learn Hindi and explore their cultural roots. My friends in East Africa to South Africa say Amitabh Bachchan is still the most popular Bollywood hero in their part of the world. Argentine filmmaker Pablo Cesar says that everyone knows him, even in the West and in his county. His name is like Maradona, who is known even in India. It's impressive how an actor from Asia is known across the globe."

Cesar, in fact, had thought of casting Big B in his film "Thinking of Him", which explored Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's relationship with Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo, but it didn't work out. He still dreams of working with the Indian megastar someday." As Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan turns 80 on Monday, it's time to celebrate the life and times of a Bollywood legend again.

Amitabh Bachchan is the man who carried the Olympic flame in London; was voted the greatest actor ever by a BBC online poll; was the first Indian actor to become a waxwork at Madame Tussaud's; acted in nearly 300 films; and was once forced to clear immigration in his hotel in Cairo, because his Egyptian fans became overly enthusiastic at the airport.

Says film writer Madhu Jain, " Bachchan has come to be more than just a star in India. He has taken on the contours of a national icon."If you ask somebody in a remote corner of this country who their prime minister is, they are likely to look puzzled. Ask him or her who Amitabh Bachchan is and they will know, even if they may not have seen even a single one of his films.India has had several successful thespians and insanely popular stars - but nobody who has stayed the course for so long, and towered over the rest as he has (albeit intermittently) for much of his over 53-year-long innings. Amitabh Bachchan is an exceptionally talented and successful actor. A talent like him always finds a way to express itself, just like a powerful river creates its own course and keeps flowing, no matter what obstacles come in its way. Even if a jungle or a mountain comes in its way, the river will find its course.

Sheer class is Amitabh's middle name. Extremely dignified and gracious, Amitabh Bachchan is a workaholic and loves to work in new projects that give him joy. He loves challenging assignments even now. Alas, like some diminutive characters of Hindi literary world, some parasites find faults in him for doing advertisements for several products. He never reacts to any gutter criticism. After all, he is made of different grains. He is simply non-stoppable. His fans across the globe only pray to the God that he would continue to work in both small and big screens in many years and decades to come.

(The author is Delhi-based senior journalist and writer. He is author of Gandhi's Delhi which has brought to the forth many hidden facts about Mahatma Gandhi)