Amitabh Bachchan's clout over the Media

Let's analyse how it all began? Amitabh Bachchan, after suffering incredible torture at the hands of the Indian media for 40 long years, finally decided to fight back. He chose blogging as the method to counter all kinds of allegations and malicious reporting indulged in by the Indian media. But it was important that fans realized the existence of Amitabh Bachchan's blog in cyberspace.

Who would launch the publicity campaign for Mr Bachchan's blog? The answer to the question lay at the doorstep of the Indian Media! Yes, it was the Indian Media who unintentionally became the unofficial publicity agent for Amitabh Bachchan's blog.

How did it happen?

This is what Amitabh Bachchan had written(excerpts)in some of his earliest blog posts:

Day 3: "Last night as i scrolled through the channels on TV, i came across Headlines Today, under their Entertainment programme giving a report on my Blog and its formation. I want to thank them for their generosity in providing me and my Blog the much required publicity of its existence. Though i found their comments laced most subtely with sarcasm ! They gave their reason for my Blog as an escape from ‘political attacks’ on me. Thats laughable. For a non politician it does not qualify me for political attack."

Day 4: "I am surprised at this observation, especially since, during the time of the National Award selection for Best Actress in one of the past years, when the Award went to Raveena Tandon, it was alleged that Mr Shatrughan Sinha’s wife, the lovely and graceful Poonam, a great friend of Raveena’s mother had recommended the appointment of MacMohan, the brother of Raveena’s mother, on the board of the Jury ( structured by the Govt., in power - in this case the BJP, of which Mr Sinha was a Minister of State ) in order that he may cast his vote in favor of Raveena Tandon."

Day15: "Fresh queries pour in. Now its the Health Minister, Mr Ramadoss, asking film stars to stop drinking scenes in their films. First the smoking, then the drinking. Hola !! What next ?

I shield myself behind the pages of our revered Constitution and Law and the Censor Board. Bring in a law to ban such participation and we shall follow it diligently Mr Minister. We fake it on screen. Diluted tea, honeyed water, an aerated drink, soda watered to match the color of champagne. Thats what we are actually drinking on set to simulate the whisky. Our intoxication, Minister, is in the credibility we bring to a drunken scene without being literally drunk, not to propagate alcoholism."

Growing Clout

Then there was a piece comparing KBC with SRK's Paanchvi Pass. The Indian media lapped it all up and highlighted it for the benefit of public consumption. They had no idea how it was eventually going to backfire. The media wanted to sensationalize everything that Mr Bachchan wrote in his blog about SRK, Shatrughan Sinha and others. But in the process Amitabh Bachchan's blog became hugely popular and that gave him an ever-growing clout over the Indian Media.

The Sudden Aloofness

The Indian Media no longer seems interested in talking about Mr Bachchan's blog and the reason is not too difficult to understand. They have realized that it was a mistake to have sensationalized his blog. Amitabh Bachchan can now take apart the Indian Media and do it in a justifiable manner. Make no mistake about it, Amitabh Bachchan's blog is here to stay and will repeatedly expose the incompetencies of the Indian Media.

Had the Indian Media not got carried away by the blogs on Paanchvi Pass, Shatrughan Sinha and Ramadoss, a lesser number of people would have been aware about the existence of Mr Bachchan's blog. Thankfully, that did not happen and now we know where to go to get Amitabh Bachchan's viewpoint.

I'll write one more post regarding what the Indian Media could possibly do to tackle Mr Bachchan's blog.

Amitabh Bachchan's Blog and the Indian Media

Over the last month or two, I have been visiting Amitabh Bachchan's blog on a regular basis. It's surely interesting to observe the evolution of Mr. Bachchan's blogs. The actor took to blogging with a specific purpose in mind, that of countering all kinds of accusations leveled against him and his family. He has been greatly successful in achieving that purpose.

40 Years of Tolerance

For the last 40 years, Amitabh Bachchan had been maintaining a stoic silence over all kinds of accusations made by the Indian media. But now he has decided to give vent to his feelings and has chosen the medium of blogs to answer all his critics, particularly journalists from the Indian media. The Indian media has not stopped accusing him of malpractices, but Amitabh Bachchan has managed to convince his fans of the media's indulgence in false reporting and spreading rumours about him.

Bharati Dubey

Bharati Dubey of the Times of India has failed to stand up to the power of Amitabh Bachchan's pen. She's not alone. Many of the other reputed, Indian media journalists had to meet a similar fate. What has made Amitabh Bachchan's blog so popular with the Indian fans? The answer to that question, I'll discuss in my next blog!

Competing against the Indian Media

Today, I tried my hand at some personalized reporting of India's achievements at the Olympics. Sushil Kumar, the wrestler, won a bronze medal for India and Vijender Kumar has ensured that India gets at least one more medal at the Olympics. A great day for India and a significant day for me on a personal level.

I tried to compete against the Indian Media, in trying to be the first to "break" the news about India's victories. How far have I succeeded in achieving it? Well, let me just say that I have been able to generate twice the traffic for my blog than what I normally get. I guess the Indian media will be perturbed if I start "breaking news" more often!

It has been a hectic 2nd half for me. But it's been loads of fun. Whenever I get an off day, I'll surely be trying my hand at some first hand reporting. I'll try not to be "delirious", as someone pointed out by posting a comment on my blog.

Today, by the way, was an unofficial holiday owing to the CITU enforced bandh in India. The City of Joy, Kolkata, has been particularly affected by it. Some of the IT companies in Kolkata had asked their employees to stay back, to be able to function normally on the bandh day. But I have been lucky in that respect.

One of my sub-editor friends in Hyderabad, who works for the Times of India, just called me up and talked about how hectic her work schedule is. It's certainly quite hectic to be in the field of journalism.

Vijender Kumar defeats Carlos Gongora

Yipee!! Vijender Kumar has qualified for the semi-finals. It was an absolute pleasure to watch the match. I am ecstatic at the victory achieved by Vijender Kumar. Now, let's see if he would help us to another medal at the Olympics. He has made up for Jitender Kumar and Akhil Kumar's defeat.

In any case, we have been assured of a Bronze medal. At the Olympics, both the losing semi-finalists in boxing receive a bronze medal each. So now we have 3 Olympic champions- Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar and Vijender Kumar. But we want Vijender Kumar to aim for the Gold Medal and nothing less!!

Vijender Kumar vs. Carlos Gongora

I really wanted to watch the Vijender Kumar vs. Carlos Gongora match. Since Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar have made their exit, Vijendar Kumar is our last hope for a 2008 Olympics medal in boxing. After Abhinav Bindra and Sushil Kumar, would Vijender Kumar be the 3rd Indian to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics? Well, it depends on whether Vijender would be able to defeat Carlos Gongora to qualify for the semis.

HaHaHa. INX's channel News X is discussing the Vijender Kumar vs. Carlos Gongora match. This is what is being flashed on top of the television screen -" Crutial Bout". Shouldn't that be "Crucial Bout"? God, I am getting obsessed with spelling words correctly. But it's the reputation of the news channel that is at stake. They should have been more careful.

The match has already started and Vijender is ahead by 6 points to 1. Common Vijender, let's do it for INDIA!

Jitender Kumar and Vijender Kumar

In a few minutes from now Jitender Kumar would be fighting it out with Georgy Balakshin for a place in the Semi-finals. A bit later, Vijender Kumar would also be moving a step closer to an Olympic medal. He has to battle it out with Carlos Gongora. As an Indian, I surely wish them well and would rejoice in their victory at the Olympics.

The performance of boxers like Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar and Vijender Kumar has definitely generated a lot of interest in the sport of Boxing in India. Now, Indian fans are at ease with terms like Flyweight (51KG) and Flyweight (75 KG).

You must be wondering, "What's the connection between the Indian boxers and learning journalism?" It's quite simple; get the spelling right! Yes, I find on the internet that a few websites are spelling the boxers name as, "Vijendra" and "Jitendra". I consulted the Telegraph and the Times of India, it should be "Vijender" Kumar and "Jitender" Kumar.

Oh no!! Jitender Kumar lost. But he did put up a brave fight. He's still a hero for us. Now all eyes will be on the Vijender Kumar vs. Carlos Gongora bout. So far only Abhinav Bindra and Sushil Kumar have managed to win medals for India at the Olympics.