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Forever young
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At 65, Bob Dylan is busy doing what he is best at: reinventing himself
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Dylan, the reluctant prophet
"M's' for the many things she gave me. `O' is for the other things she gave me. `T' is for the things she gave me. `H' is for her things, which she gave me. `E' is for everything she gave me. `R' is for the rest of the things she gave me. Let's talk about mothers."
These are not lines from a super-mushy Hallmark card. These are lines a certain DJ used to introduce his show on Mother's Day. The DJ is none other than Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan — the very same — voice of the generation, (Dylan's reaction when he was introduced as "the disturbed conscience of young America" was "I was so mad I wanted to bite myself") and counter-culture icon. The same person who nastily sang with his whiplash voice — you got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend/ when I was down you just stood there grinning/... . I wish just for one moment you could stand inside my shoes/You'd know what a drag it is to see you.
Scorsese's documentary
Dylan, who celebrated his 65th birthday recently, is busy reinventing himself one more time. He turned DJ, has appeared on a advertisement for lingerie major Victoria's Secret, done deals with the coffee chain Starbucks, written his autobiography (Chronicles Vol. 1), been muse for Martin Scorsese's rocking documentary (No Direction Home), been charming and gracious on 60 Minutes, and competed with son Jakob (frontman for Wallflowers) for the Grammys.
And there is more coming in the shape of a Broadway musical, The Times They Are a Changing, a book with a compilation of interviews and, of course, the Never Ending tour.
There are so many "other sides" to Dylan that it is no surprise that Todd Haynes, who is directing a Dylan biopic, I'm Not There, commissioned by the man himself, has actors as diverse as Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and believe-it-or-faint Cate Blanchett playing Dylan! Blanchett, after playing the Virgin Queen and Galadriel, has the right attitude to play rock 'n' roll royalty if not the gender! She will apparently play the legend's early life. Dylan made his radio debut on May 3 with the program Theme Time. The show, which aired on XM channel has yet another Dylan avtaar — a happy silly side where he cracks mother-in-law jokes.
That Dylan has a following in India is a given. Over the last 30 years, Shillong has celebrated his birthday with concerts while pubs elsewhere have Dylan specials (including a Bharatnatya performance to his songs!) on his May 24 birthday.
MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
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