Silence Of The Lamb(u)

Image: Tyrone Siu/ Reuters

The television crew stood in a line behind the last row waiting for the press photographers to finish their flash bulb trick. For a change they were astonished by the number of photographers in the huge hall inside Taj Lands End where Deepti Naval was about to release “The Mad Tibetian – Stories From Then and Now”, her book of short stories published by Amaryllis, an imprint of Manjul Publishing House. Amitabh Bachchan was going to read some chapters from the book. Naval wanted Bachchan to read the stories because she had a serious problem with her throat and was not able to speak. So her choice of getting Bachchan to do the honour had taken the event to a different level. The invite specifically said Bachchan would read the chapters and that explained the entire brouhaha among the television crew and the photographers.

The long wires, the microphones and the recording devices were put in place for the baritone of Bachchan. When Bachchan came on the stage there was pin drop silence. There were reporters, bloggers and enthusiasts ready with their cell phone cameras, voice recorders with an undying will to get that exclusive from Bachchan.

But Bachchan’s voice was cold. He praised Naval’s work and but politely refused to read any of the chapters from her book citing issues related to contractual agreement where he is not allowed to do book readings at public functions. “Due to contractual obligations I will not be able to read from the book. But I wish all the best to Deepti Naval.”

There was total silence. The audience was in a state of shock. Most of the audience had come to the event on a Sunday evening only to hear Bachchan speak. They felt that the professionalism of modern day event management companies for celebrities like Bachchan have robbed them of one of the simplest pleasures of life. And that was to listen to Bachchan recite a line or two from a poem or a book.

Industry experts feel that one of the reason why Bachchan did not recite the chapters from Naval’s book was because the recitation would be considered as a performance and that would be against the contract with his event management company. Bachchan had refused to recite the chapters at the last moment when he realised that there was a contractual obligation that he couldn’t violate.

It was a let down. Deepti Naval recited the verse from “The Mad Tibetian” with a sore throat.  The words were beautiful even when her voice was not up to the mark. The man with the silent voice watched her as the cameramen changed their focus. As Bachchan’s Vijay says in Deewar: “Sapne bhi samundar ki lahron ki tarah haqeeqat ki chattanon se takrakar toot jaate hain.”