I feel a burden if I don’t write: Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan completed 3,000 days of blogging on June 18; adds that he has a great relationship with his followers, who he calls “extended family”

Amitabh Bachchan is one of the few Bollywood actors who started blogging when it wasn’t popular. On June 18, the 73-year-old completed 3,000 days of blogging. “I feel a burden if I don’t write. I have fans across the globe. If I don’t write, I start getting messages asking me, ‘Kahan ho (where are you)? Blog nahi aaya (you haven’t blogged)?’”

Amitabh Bachchan says when he wrote his first blog, he got one response. Now, he sometimes gets as many as 400 responses for his posts.(Yogen Shah)

Read: Education most important after food, clothing, shelter: Amitabh Bachchan

The actor has been blogging for almost eight years and the medium has given several of his fans access to him. He even calls his followers his “extended family” or “EF”. “When I wrote my first blog, I got one response. Now, I sometimes get as many as 400 responses for my posts,” says Bachchan, adding that over time, his followers have developed a relationship with each other too. “They have started talking to each other. Sometimes, they get together and come to see me,” he says.

Amitabh Bachchan at a book reading.

Bachchan recalls that a few years back, he did a show in Paris, France, which was dedicated to his father — late Harivansh Rai Bachchan (poet). “My EF learnt about it two months in advance and 30 of them, from different parts of the world, coordinated their flights and came for the show,” says the actor, adding that they often reach out to each other for help. “Once, two of my fans from South Africa were in Dubai. One of them fell ill at the airport. They reached out to the EF. Soon, one person reached the airport, took them to the hospital and then even dropped them to the airport again,” says Bachchan.

Tough to keep in touch

Amitabh Bachchan says it is a myth that it is easy for actors to keep in touch since they belong to the same industry. “You don’t get time to meet your peers such as Dharmendra and Hema Malini very often. Award functions or other events are the only places you meet them, unless there is an emergency. Then we all come together,” he says.