The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bachchans steal the show

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Wednesday, Nov 08, 2006
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New Delhi

Bachchans steal the show

A RAGE: Abhishek Bachchan with mother Jaya Bachchan at Delhi University over the weekend. Photo: V.V. Krishnan

It is an opinion poll that will leave the country sharply divided. In a popularity fight between the Bachchans, the winner seems to be the junior Bachchan -- at least with the students at Delhi University.

While Amitabh Bachchan's day out at Delhi University this past weekend for the Special Convocation to honour him was eventful, to say the least, reducing usually stuffy teachers to zealous autograph hunters, for Abhishek Bachchan it looked like the entry he was waiting for.

With young college girls swooning incredibly loudly as he stepped into the room, even the security guards forcibly escorting the photographers -- who had brought the function to a halt with their constant clicking -- stopped dead in their tracks. Craning their necks around to see what the commotion was all about, the audience realised that it wasn't someone who needed emergency medical aid, but Abhishek Bachchan with his new long-hair look walking in late.

From swooning to singing his songs, fans tried desperately to get closer to him. "He was so close to me. He passed just by my side!'' said a young girl to her father, one of the organisers of the event, standing on a chair with her cell-phone. To ensure that she could relive this momentous moment in her life many times, she had filmed this on her mobile camera.

Shouting his name outside the Vice-Chancellor's office, young girls with their autograph books tried to catch his attention. And as one teacher, obviously a fan of the older Bachchan, put it rather forlornly: "Even Amitabh Bachchan said all the excitement there at the event was not for him, but for his son.''

As for the older generation, they were quite overwhelmed seeing their childhood icon in real life. Teachers turned into simpering school children and pleasantly surprised their much younger students. Coming armed with their digital camera, they lovingly documented their hero getting his honorary doctorate degree.

"I knew that there would be people who would take pictures of the actor. But it took me by surprise when I saw teachers shooting merrily!'' said a senior faculty member. -- Mandira Nayar

-- Mandira Nayar

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