Abram thinks Amitabh Bachchan is his grandfather. What the search for grandparents truly means
For long, we liked to believe that there is a cold war between Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. The existence of such a tiff can’t be overruled after all, given the trajectory of their careers — SRK became 'King Khan' of Bollywood just at a time when the Big B was trudging towards the periphery, becoming more of a Bollywood patriarch. SRK stepped in the shoes of Big B, quite literally, when he took up the challenge of donning a Don, inviting inevitable comparison, criticisms, et al.
But even if it’s mumkin to take the place of Big B in Bollywood, it’s absolutely mushkil in real life where Abram, SRK’s youngest son, continues thinking that Amitabh Bachchan is his grandfather.
It was all in a photo from Amitabh’s granddaughter Aradhya Bachchan’s seventh birthday this November 16. We could see Amitabh shaking hands with little Abram, accompanied by mother Gauri Khan. Just an everyday photo, which can be easily forgotten — but for the caption and what followed after that.
Amitabh Bachchan wrote that Abram ‘thinks, believes, and is convinced’ that Amitabh Bachchan is his father’s father, and also wonders why he doesn’t stay with SRK.
This became a massive emotional moment for Instagram.
It had its funny side. Many Instagram users started commenting that they too, for a long time, have believed that Amitabh Bachchan is their grandfather. Not only that, some Bollywood enthusiasts went to the extent of imagining how beautiful it would have been, had SRK been Amitabh’s real-life son. The 'Narayan Shankar-Raj Aryan Malhotra' reference from Mohabbatein (SRK was a somewhat reluctant Big B's son-in-law) also floated up on social media
Meanwhile, upping the emotion quotient, SRK commented on the photo, requesting Big B to spend some time with Abram — at least on Saturdays! As additional bait, he wrote that Abram has some amazing games on his iPad and Big B can play Doodle Jump with him.
So, this is something SRK can’t become and is happy turning to his Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham father, all teary-eyed.
Even if we avoid sounding so Bollywood-like, what we can’t avoid is accepting the fact that no matter how many cameras flash whenever you are spotted with your celebrity dad or mom, no matter how much you grow up, no matter how much luxury you live in the lap of, you never stop looking for those indulgent, grey-haired figures who somewhat wield an authority over the parents — who can laugh off the all-powerful parents, and who, at the same time, can give a lecture on parampara, pratishtha, anushasan, without sermonising too much.
Abram could never have the pleasure of meeting his real-life paternal grandparents as Shah Rukh tragically lost both his parents quite early — he lost his father when he was just 15, his mother when he was 26.
In many of his interviews, Shah Rukh has revealed how he channelised the pain of losing both his parents, before he reached the peak of his career, towards acting.
There are many biographies of SRK and many details of his parents, their photos, SRK’s early life, etc., are all out in the public sphere. A photo of his father, Taj Mohammed Khan, who was an Independence activist in Peshawar, will tell you that SRK is a spitting image of him. In various accounts, it is also celebrated that apart from the looks, he has inherited his sense of humour from his father.
But this story is not about the grandparents we never had.
It's about the grandparents we may have, if we reach out.
Thank you, Abram. You taught us all something new.
Also Read: Five years on: The things I’ve come to learn about losing a parent