Kolkata: Amitabh Bachchan confesses to being a selfie addict At the launch of the LG G3 smartphone.
I have seen Amitabh Bachchan do everything. Well almost. And by that I don’t mean on screen. Even off screen. I have been on the sets of his film. I have been to his film promotions. I was there when he hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati for the first time. I have seen him give interviews. I have interviewed him myself more than once.
But the Amitabh Bachchan I saw on Monday morning at Mehboob Studio, I have never seen him before. Yes, he launched the LG G3 smartphone and they introduced him as the “living legend” that he is, but AB played an MC. Yes, you read that right! Before actually unveiling the phone, he came on stage and spoke about the many features of the phone for a good quarter of an hour.
There were multiple teleprompters placed in strategic corners of the floor. AB’s used to them because most of the KBC banter comes from the teleprompter. But unlike the TV show, there were no retakes here. Not only was there a live audience present on the floor of the studio, the event was being streamed live across the globe through the Internet.
And that is where Amitabh Bachchan showed that the medium is inconsequential, the craft constant. When he switched from just a brand ambassador to a host selling a phone and when he re-emerged as the legendary movie star was a mystery –– almost like Shane Warne mixing up his leg break, googly and flipper all in the same over. He was selling a phone but there’s no way you could make that out.
He was reading out the text on the teleprompter but he was also slipping in these personal quips that really made the whole experience informal and interactive. Like the way he incorporated “galat jawaab” and “lock kiya jaaye” in his talk, like the way he mentioned that the camera on the phone was “his favourite feature” and like the way he confessed he was “addicted to the selfie”.
AB was talking technical jargon but it never seemed mumbo jumbo like it does with other hosts. The teleprompter said that the laser technology helped cops detect speeding cars. He added: “Not here in India, but in a lot of countries abroad.” One also couldn’t stop wondering what a great teacher or professor Amitabh Bachchan would have been, had he not chosen to be the superstar of the millennium.
It’s difficult to imagine any other star doing something like this but then again AB has always been ahead of the curve. He chose to be on TV when television was a bad word for movie folks. At 71, he still plays the leading man and scripts are written with him in mind. So, if he decides to give the stage-hosting game a fillip, we are all in for some tasty live action.
Amitabh Bachchan unveiled the much-awaited G3 phone from LG at a glittering event in Bandra’s Mehboob Studio on Monday morning along with LG Electronics India managing director Soon Kwon. With the tagline “simple is the new smart”, LG’s “most ambitious device” has been developed on the “learning from you” philosophy. “The G3 has won accolades everywhere around the world and we are hoping for a similar success story in India,” said Kwon. Priced at Rs 47,990 for the 16GB version and Rs 50,990 for the 32GB version, the G3 has a 5.5-inch Quad HD display and a 13MP camera with a Laser Auto Focus. LG will release 15,000 limited edition G3 phones with signatures of Big B on them and a few lucky buyers will even get a chance to meet the man.
--The Telegraph, Calcutta
I have seen Amitabh Bachchan do everything. Well almost. And by that I don’t mean on screen. Even off screen. I have been on the sets of his film. I have been to his film promotions. I was there when he hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati for the first time. I have seen him give interviews. I have interviewed him myself more than once.
But the Amitabh Bachchan I saw on Monday morning at Mehboob Studio, I have never seen him before. Yes, he launched the LG G3 smartphone and they introduced him as the “living legend” that he is, but AB played an MC. Yes, you read that right! Before actually unveiling the phone, he came on stage and spoke about the many features of the phone for a good quarter of an hour.
There were multiple teleprompters placed in strategic corners of the floor. AB’s used to them because most of the KBC banter comes from the teleprompter. But unlike the TV show, there were no retakes here. Not only was there a live audience present on the floor of the studio, the event was being streamed live across the globe through the Internet.
And that is where Amitabh Bachchan showed that the medium is inconsequential, the craft constant. When he switched from just a brand ambassador to a host selling a phone and when he re-emerged as the legendary movie star was a mystery –– almost like Shane Warne mixing up his leg break, googly and flipper all in the same over. He was selling a phone but there’s no way you could make that out.
He was reading out the text on the teleprompter but he was also slipping in these personal quips that really made the whole experience informal and interactive. Like the way he incorporated “galat jawaab” and “lock kiya jaaye” in his talk, like the way he mentioned that the camera on the phone was “his favourite feature” and like the way he confessed he was “addicted to the selfie”.
AB was talking technical jargon but it never seemed mumbo jumbo like it does with other hosts. The teleprompter said that the laser technology helped cops detect speeding cars. He added: “Not here in India, but in a lot of countries abroad.” One also couldn’t stop wondering what a great teacher or professor Amitabh Bachchan would have been, had he not chosen to be the superstar of the millennium.
Amitabh Bachchan and Soon Kwon, managing director of LG Electronics India
It’s difficult to imagine any other star doing something like this but then again AB has always been ahead of the curve. He chose to be on TV when television was a bad word for movie folks. At 71, he still plays the leading man and scripts are written with him in mind. So, if he decides to give the stage-hosting game a fillip, we are all in for some tasty live action.
Amitabh Bachchan unveiled the much-awaited G3 phone from LG at a glittering event in Bandra’s Mehboob Studio on Monday morning along with LG Electronics India managing director Soon Kwon. With the tagline “simple is the new smart”, LG’s “most ambitious device” has been developed on the “learning from you” philosophy. “The G3 has won accolades everywhere around the world and we are hoping for a similar success story in India,” said Kwon. Priced at Rs 47,990 for the 16GB version and Rs 50,990 for the 32GB version, the G3 has a 5.5-inch Quad HD display and a 13MP camera with a Laser Auto Focus. LG will release 15,000 limited edition G3 phones with signatures of Big B on them and a few lucky buyers will even get a chance to meet the man.
--The Telegraph, Calcutta
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