Bloggywood

My last blog attracted quite a few readers which was extremely pleasing, it even got a few comments. The weekend was pretty average fare, took advantage of the last weekend before Ramadan, which should start on either Tuesday or Wednesday, by ensuring that I ate as much as possible. It's going to be really tough this year, with saree around 5am and iftar near 8pm - 15 hours.

With Ramadan around the corner, I hope during the month - energy permitting - to blog mainly about religious topics and I would welcome any suggestions on what to blog about during the month. In the meantime, I thought that today I'd get my obligatory Bollywood blog in to please the masses. Anything to get the hit count up - I'm such a sell-out, like many Bollywood actors!

I may have been away from the blogging world for 18 months, but during that time , the great void felt by my blogs absence was filled with not one, not two but three different bloggers! These bloggers are all big Bollywood superstars and have been blogging on an almost daily basis, all in the name of their fans, but more because it gives them a chance to fight back against all the bad press they receive.

First out of the blocks into the blogging world came Aamir Khan. A notoriously recluse actor with a reputation of being extremely difficult to work with, Aamir Khan's blogs attract thousands of readers. He appears to blog about once a month or so, unless he's promoting a film in which case the number of blogs increase (as seen recently when promoting his home production Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, starring his nephew, Imran Khan). It seems to do the trick as the films tend to be extremely successful.

Aamir Khan courted controversy earlier this year when he blogged about a dog in a house he was staying at, who was named, by his servants apparently, Shah Rukh. He affectionately states:

"Well Shahrukh is once again begging for my attention, so let me get back to him. He is smelling too much, I think he needs a bath. Heel boy, heel."

Needless to say the media had a field day with that blog and Aamir Khan had to come out and apologise for his crass behaviour. Amusing to say the least. On the whole, his blogs tend to be interesting, talking about a wide range of subjects, much like this blog, the difference being he gets over 1000 comments per blog. If only!

More recently, Salman Khan has joined the blogging world, using the same server as me infact. He's been blogging during the course of his stint presenting the game show Dus Ka Dum on Sony Entertainment Television. As a quick side note, that has been another development in the Bollywood world, ever since Amitabh Bachchan presented India's version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2001, other actors have had a go at presenting various game shows. Shah Rukh Khan presented Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? last year and is currently presenting India's version of Are You Smarter Than A 10-year Old?, Akshay Kumar presents India's Fear Factor and now Salman Khan with Dus Ka Dum - which should really be called Dus Ka Dumb!

In his blogs, Salman Khan attempts to deal with a lot of philosophical issues, attempting to make his game show appear deep and meaningful, when it is anything but. For those who haven't seen it, the premise is extremely simple. Salman Khan asks questions based on polls done across India and the contestant has to guess the percentage of people who give a certain answer - as far as I can see it requires no skill whatsoever. Have a look yourself below, this particular episode has a very special contestant - talk about back-slapping!



But the King of the Bollywood Blogging World has to be Amitabh Bachchan. The man is a machine. At the grand age of 66, he is blogging on a daily basis, sometimes even twice a day, discussing what he gets up to everyday, discussing his personal issues with the media and more recently discussing at great length the success of his recent Unforgettable Tour. It's hard to believe that he actually types the blogs himself - the quality of English is superb - but he insists that he is repeatedly. Obviously it may not be true, but some of the information he provides could only come from him

His blogs get over 500 comments each, again on a daily basis, and his server has a neat gimmick which allows him to respond to each comment separately in the comment section - he even has time to do that as well. One reader even had the audacity to question Amitabh Bachchan on whether he types the blogs himself and once again, he denies the allegation.

Amitabh Bachchan also uses the blogs as a tool to fight back against the media. He puts up scans of newspaper clippings which attack him or his family and then types a long rebuttal. Recently, he has taken to putting up any interviews he has given to the media on the blog as well - stating that he wants to ensure that the reporter doesn't twist his words when the official version is printed.

So far, there is one notable omission from the blogging world. A certain Shah Rukh Khan, who claims to be too busy to blog, but I am certain it is only a matter of time before he joins the blogging world. Anything to get the fans. And I guess that is what it's all about. The actors will do anything and everything for the attention - they crave it - but then they wouldn't be successful if they didn't receive all the attention.

I finish with a link to this interesting article, which Amitabh Bachchan kindly put up on his blog to allow readers to comment on. It's quite interesting and for a change, Amitabh Bachchan has not come up with a rebuttal - perhaps he can't argue against it - after all, he craves attention to.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?