Amitabh Bachchan, who turned 64 today, attended a music launch on Monday night, and seemed perfectly content to bask in the shadows.
Accompanied by son Abhishek and wife Jaya, the Big B was in attendance to release Rajeev Goswami's debut album, Mujhe Pyar Se Matlab.
The show provided an introduction to the debutant, who evidently prefers to be called RG, a man Abhishek Bachchan calls 'the finest dancer I've even seen.'
Perhaps in a futile attempt to let the rush die down, the Bachchans entered the venue two and a half hours late. Even as cameramen thronged the famous family, MTV VJ Sophie took the stage to acquaint us with RG, an associate of choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant.
With speakers tuned to treble overkill, the music interludes were thankfully brief, but the same couldn't be said for the VJs' painful accent.
The Big B sat up ahead, slackjawed and utterly bored, understandable given the grammatically-challenged spiel being spouted about him on the stage. He just seemed glad to not be in the spotlight.
But with Bachchan, that doesn't ever last long, does it? The irksome compere pounced on the occasion with a "it's your birthday tomorrow, sir" announcement, in a bewildering tone suggesting that the news would surprise Amitabh.
The day-away-from-64 icon was then inevitably dragged onto stage, and a birthday cake was cut.
Perhaps the evening's only saving grace was that RG didn't choose to sing Happy birthday.
Wish Amitabh Bachchan!
Text: Raja Sen | Photograph: Pradeep Bandekar