Aren't there many facets to relationships? If a protagonist plays a certain role that does not necessarily mean he/she justifies the takeover of the entire society by the likes of that character. Jogger's Park, a wonderful movie, also showed the infatuation of an aging retired judge with a young girl. This infatuation was born out of the inspiration he drew from her enthusiasm and straightforward manners and primarily from the fact that this youngster reflected the much suppressed rebel of his own youth. All the social restraints that bound his own youth lay unshackled, outspoken and transparent, very much personified in the form of that young girl. As far as Kabhi Alvida na Kahna is concerned, it is one of the most mature take on relationships and one of the leading revolutionary movies coming out from Bollywood. I am not sure whether Mr. Bachchan himself is mature enough to understand the intricacy of the roles he plays but it's for sure that he livens up the assigned mature roles he has been given onscreen.

Perhaps many people need to grow up and mature to THE GREAT FACT that relations, people and life on the whole is NEITHER black nor white. The most persistent shade is that of GREY. Unfortunately that shade is visible to a selected few who make the society a progressive one. - Dr. Jaya Vatsyayan, USA - Jan. 27, 2007

Art is for art sake. A work of art ( in case of Bachchanji ) is the work of an artist. And perhaps no one in the world of entertainment doubts the artistic behavior of the Bachchanji. He is not only fine but a refined artist. He knows the depth of a character and its touchstone to be molded and translated into action. Individual personality ( in terms of age, relation , social status…and so on) should have nothing to do with the work of an art. Nevertheless, all types of artistic works do affect the society and what is happening in the society is reflected in the work of an art.

Dada Koneke’s Raat Ke Andhere Mein Diya Tere Haath Mien and Karan Jauhar’s Oops are the gem movies I would like to watch again and again. Truly, a skeletonic representation of the other side of a modern society which has been made possible through art. - Madani Mohiuddin Ahmad, KSU, Riyadh, KSA - Jan. 27, 2007

In the name of art, lets not condone all these useless skin-flicks and cheap imitations coming out of Bollywood. Amitabh does not need to prove that he is an artist by choosing all these senseless movies.

Remember Boom which I just watched because Amitabh was playing in this movie. Since then I have stopped blindly condoning his movies. If all these skin-flick movies are art, then Playboy is like a Picasso and Spring Break Videos are biggest creations of art too. Lets face it, RGV is just making this because Lolita like subject gives his "creative" vision big enough canvass to justify everything as the "demands of script". And all this for what. A good enough weekend at the Box Office. Art, I beg to differ.

I am no moral police but lets not glorify something as an art which needs to be avoided just because it is Amitabh. Lately he seemed to be acting in any kind of movies as long as they seem to fit his needs. Utter tosh and disappointment. - Ravindra Kumar - Jan. 27, 2007

I am amazed to see that we have a couple of readers who endorse the view that Amitabh Bachchan is perfectly justified in making a Hindi version of 'Lolita'. Well, I should not be so amazed because the pervert professor from Patna who was making do with a student of his got so much popular support from a similar segment of the society.

I am no morality police. But I have children to raise. If not that, I am sympathetic to other desi people who have children to raise. Yes, there are many a grey areas in life, but I willingly do not choose to live in one of them. I do not want these grey areas to become mainstream life. Rajneeshpuram was a grey blotch, that had to be cleaned up because of its 'greyness'.

There are many taboo subjects in this world. The Awghari perform rites with the dead in the middle of the night at cremation grounds. The pedophiles molest children. There is incest in the society. There are many such 'grey zones'. Some may like these 'grey zones' spewing out of DVD discs in their living rooms. I do not. I also have a feeling that most socially responsible people do not want this. If this was kosher, then M.F. (I don't forget the initials because I have my own expansion for it) Hussein's paintings of naked Hindu goddesses would be Kosher too. Michael Jackson's pedophilia would be Kosher too! For those who like grey zones as a part of mainstream life, I ask, "Would you let your kids or Grandkids vacation with Michael Jackson? or would you like your daughter/grand daughter to meet someone who has a perverse sexual fixation on her like the old geezer had on the fictional 'Lolita'?" - Aarcee - Jan. 28, 2007

I respect the high sensibility of the readers and the commentators. And I wish to take the liberty to make one related thing is that art and culture are distinctively two different domains of a civilized society. It doesn’t mean that I am contradicting myself. Subject-object relationship is an indivisible part of all types of artistic work. Films like Satyyam Shivam Sundaram and Ram Teri Ganga Maili are the films made with conscience and romance with myth. The gravity of action of a character (the protagonist) in Hindi films rather all types of films of different languages is to value the purpose of art. Of course in our context (THE INDIAN CULTURE) social and moral values can never be compromised with no art which sends wrong signals. It’s a social problem. Perhaps, in my opinion, reality and real art can’t be mixed for the sake of art. This is a problem everyone is facing today in the world of art. I would like to cite an example: Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker. It is said that he made this film with heart. And no doubt that this film is a beautiful semblance of human passion and social reality. Raj Kapoor might have better felt it through his own son Rishi Kapoor who has plyed the role of a school boy in the film.

On the other hand, artistically-fused-multiculturalism is a yardstick to assess our own cultural values is matter of hot debate. - Madani Mohiuddin Ahmad, KSU, Riyadh, KSA - Jan.30, 2007

Majority of us need to 'grow up and mature' to understand the 'intricate relationship' depicted in such movies. Nevertheless, such movies are breaking the records at the box-office. It is precisely for this reason that Amitabh should not have accepted this role. The 'grey' areas are better suited for the audience of the parallel or the offbeat cinema with probably an 'R' rating.

Amitabh has played grey roles in good mainstream movies by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Yash Chopra of the past. Those movies did not do great business. Chopra's Lamhe was a flop. 'Nishabd' project with a 200 million Rs budget is expected to bring huge returns from the box office. Varma is not going to take any chance.

There are many shades of grey. This one is selected after meticulous planning. Amitabh is mature enough to understand this game. He is not a good businessman himself. He has chosen the alternative of being on the payroll of top businessmen (productions). They will keep him alive and rich.

Money is never enough. There are people who can sell anything. Such people scare me. - Kumod Jha - Jan.30, 2007

Discussion on this topic is now closed.