Amitabh Bachchan, who was rejected by the Left party as brand ambassador of communist Kerala because he has taken on a similar role for Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat, has been requested by wife Jaya to firm up ties with Madhya Pradesh, the state where she grew up and lived for much of her early years.Jaya, now a Rajya Sabha MP of the Samajwadi Party, unilaterally offered to convince her husband to help voice the story of the river Narmada, a main tributary in the state, and spread awareness about water conversation.
The actress was speaking at the valedictory session of the three-day Second International River Festival 2010 on the banks of the Narmada at Bandrabhan, about 90km from Bhopal.
Jaya said that as the “daughter of Madhya Pradesh”, she would be delighted to hear Bachchan’s baritone as part of their contribution to the “Save Narmada” campaign.
“I feel the story of the Narmada river should be recorded in Amitabh Bachchan’s voice. This way, the new generation can know about the Narmada and make people aware about the environment,” said Jaya.
Her remarks triggered speculation on whether the Bachchans were hoping to renew their links with Madhya Pradesh.
Jaya, a Bengali by birth, belongs to Bhopal, having studied at St Joseph’s Convent there before joining the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.
Her father, the late Taroon Coomar Bhaduri, was a Calcutta newspaper’s special representative in Bhopal in the late ’50s and ’60s.
Bhaduri was also an accomplished writer and a stage artiste. His Bengali novel Abhishapta Chambal (Accursed Chambal) has been translated into several languages. Bhaduri had served as chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Corporation during the regime of Arjun Singh.
The ruling BJP in the state is willing to take up Jaya’s offer. Culture minister Laxmi Kant Sharma described Amitabh as Bhopal’s “jamai raja” (son-in-law) who had a special bond with the state.
“We are seriously considering thinking in this direction. In case Amitabh Bachchan agrees, it will be a matter of immense pleasure and pride for the people of the state and all of us,” he said.
The minister, however, hastened to add that a final decision would have to be taken by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who, like Narendra Modi, has steered the BJP to poll victories but unlike the Gujarat leader, enjoys wider acceptability among the masses.
Bachchan incidentally has time and again identified himself as the “jamai raja” of Bengal and has even offered to be brand ambassador of Orissa because it is a neighbour of the state.
State Congress leaders interpreted Jaya’s remark as a sign of Bachchan’s bid to move closer to the BJP following the exit of close friend Amar Singh from the Samajwadi Party.
In January, the actor’s visits to Gujarat and Karnataka had sparked speculation on whether the Big B was again treading a “political path”. Bachchan had flatly denied any such move, pointing out that he had approached the Gujarat government with a request for exemption of entertainment tax on his film Paa which dealt with a rare genetic disorder.
Bachchan, in his blog today, took potshots at the CPM — without naming the party — for objecting to his association with Kerala.
“You want to stop me from promoting tourism in a state, because you have reason to believe that there are political connotations to the event. This is such rubbish! All I shall be doing will be working in a short film that shall highlight the various places of interest in the state, so that it encourages more tourists to visit the region…
It is a petty act of cheap convenience to prevent me from doing that, and by pitting me against political connotations and manoeuvres without paying any respect for the actual work that would be done….I shall abide by the judgement of the state government. I did not ask them for it, they came forward with the invitation, I accepted, now they want to decline it, fine…”
At Bandrabhan, Jaya spoke of the need for water conservation, recalling days when people drank unfiltered water straight from hand pumps and taps. “We cannot even think of doing so today. We fear we will die,” she said.
Describing her fond memories of the hills and lakes associated with Bhopal, she rued that the place has changed beyond recognition. “First we tamper with the environment, exhaust all our water and then search for water on the moon,” she said.
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