Amitabh in Munnar
'Streetchildren are our own children'
The Big B is not just shooting and chilling out. "I have not been able to visit a tea manufacturing unit. I want to see how tea is made," he says.
And when Janaseva Sisubhavan, an organisation that looks after streetchildren, requests him to meet the children under their care, he agrees instantly.
He listens attentively as children like Velmurukan narrate their horror stories.
Velmurukan, from Seethannnoor in Tamil Nadu, lost his parents when he was very young. When he was about nine years old, his custodian sold him to a beggar mafia leader called Dharamraj, who brought Velmurukan to Kerala and made him beg. Cigarette burns were punishment when Velmurukan refused.
"You are in safe hands now. And you have a bright future," Amitabh assures the child lovingly.
A thrilled Velmurukan responds in broken English: "Thank you, sir. We love your films!"
"The children stranded in the streets in various parts of our country should be treated as our own children," Bachchan says, lauding the work of the Sisubhavan. "It is the duty of every citizen to look after the streetchildren," he adds.
"It was a great occasion for these children. They came to Munnar for the first time. And they met Bachchan for the first time," says a thrilled Sijo Xavier, a Sisubhavan official accompanying the kids.