Amitabh Bachchan shared an anecdote from his early days in the film industry. (Photo: Amitabh Bachchan/Blog)Amitabh Bachchan became a phenomenon in the 1970s and 80s. He was at the top of his game and invoked the persona of the angry young man film after film. But, back then, the management of Madison Square Gardens, New York was not well-versed with his superstardom.
In his latest blog post, senior Bachchan went down memory lane and shared how he was denied space in the New York stadium for a stage show in 1983. “the management was not giving the Stadium for the stage show .. 1983 .. then in typical Indian style the team, our team, head did his ‘bit’ .. big and glorious epithets on who I was etc., .. very embarrassing ..” wrote Big B.
The management of Madison Square Gardens told Amitabh Bachchan’s team how they have hosted full house shows of singers Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, and “don’t want an empty stadium” by allowing the Deewar actor to perform. However, reluctantly though, the management agreed.
What happened next was a ‘riot’. Bachchan further wrote, “show sells out .. centre stage rotating .. and in Indian style fills more than capacity – on the floor, on the sides everywhere .. and another 3000 outside .. that could not come in ..… normally on such shows a couple of cops are organised .. but seeing the crowds .. huge contingent of NYC cops called in … what a riot ..”
The surprised management of Madison Square Gardens once again called Amitabh Bachchan’s team and asked, “what did you say the guy’s name was ??”