Sher ki kahani, Bachchan ki zubaani

02-06-2010
Sher ki kahani, Bachchan ki zubaani
Times of India By Himanshu kaushik
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Sher-ki-kahani-Bachchan-ki-zubaani/articleshow/6001134.cms

"Nahi bhoolti uff wo jangal ki raatMujhe yaad hai wo thi Mangal ki raat."

These are lines from the famous Bollywood number of 'Mr Natwarlal' where Amitabh Bachchan conjures up a tale of his encounter with the big cat. You may call it coincidence, but it could well have been scripted to perfection. Big B had a real encounter with lions in the Gir forest this time, and that too on a Mangal ki raat — late on Tuesday evening.

And he was dressed up in the same Mr Natwarlal hunter outfit, complete with knee-high boots as he did for 'Aao bachcho aaj tumhe ek kahani sunata hoon main, sher ki kahani sunoge?' He even tucked in his trousers in the reddish brown boots for the still shoot in the forest with a pride of eight lions. When the camera was not trained on him, Bachchan took his own camera and trained it on the lions.

Bachchan flew into Gir at 8.30am on Tuesday and later in the evening, rode a van that had been given a facelift recently because the star was going to use it. The king of Bollywood was excited to have a first glimpse of the king of the jungle in its last abode in Asia.

A ripple ran through the jungle as word spread that the superstar was going to make Gir his abode and small groups of people gathered at the helipad for a glimpse of the superstar.

Officials have already identified several prides of lions in different parts of the forest and surrounding areas and are tracking them so that the wild cats don't wander away at the time of the shoot. At least now, Big B will have a real 'sher ki kahani' to tell!