'Paa' director R. Balki pens a heartfelt note for Amitabh Bachchan for his 83rd birthday: 'Come back from KBC and...'

Filmmaker R. Balki has never directed a film without Amitabh Bachchan and as the megastar of Hindi cinema turned 83 on October 11, Balki wrote a letter to the legend to express his admiration for the superstar. This is what he wrote:

Happy birthday Amitji.

Why am I writing this instead of talking to you?

Because it’s safer to talk to you in public than in private where you will call me a delusional fool or depending on your generosity something a little more dismissive.

I saw the most delicious Downton Abbey…The grand finale today’. There is a dialogue in it…’ Sometimes I feel the past is a more comfortable place than the future’. I know you hate to look back, you are all about looking forward to the new the next day, you are as competitive today, shun arm chair nostalgic philosophy, ‘doing’ is your life force blah blah blah…but you are responsible for the state of cinema today so I have to make you squirm a bit.

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You were responsible for the birth of the ultra slow motion 90 frames per second hero…though you hardly entered or walked in slow motion in your films. In fact I can’t even remember a 48 frame shot of yours, except maybe one glorious run here or there, in all your golden and platinum jubilee hits . ( Maybe that’s why I shot you walking towards Tabu in Cheeni Kum in 48 frames for fun). You didn’t need it. You were just born with a personality, a voice and a gift of doing the most outlandish things with a straight face. The villains hear your voice and ‘cut to’ …they see you! Voila…

The biggest star of Hindi cinema in 24 frames per sec! Now how do you expect the next generation or the younger ones in your gen, who aspired to be you, to be as thundering as you? Welcome to slow motion heroes. With every year the frame rate has increased..today the average is 90 frames per second, cut to deafening music. Can’t blame them. Blame you. You set the bar for a hero. You had some good lines yes, but because such lines are only half as effective from another mouth, a slow mo entry, turn, before and after delivery is a must to add punch to reach the heroism bar.

Now please come back from KBC. We need some 24 frame action on screen for a change. Your past is not just a comfortable place for us all to be in. It’s an aspiration for the future. Funny how a tech savvy industry is trying every stunt in the book to match the power of a zoom, track, some ridiculous bell bottoms on a lanky poker faced cool man.

Happy birthday to the eternal hope of all Indian mega heroes. “One day beyond box office figures we will be… Bigger than Bachchan”.