By the way, did I tell you that Madhuri had once told me that the first film of Big B that she had watched was Amar Akbhar Anthony (one of my personal favorites too) and it so happens that the only hindi film that Mr. Nene had watched before his marriage, was Amar Akhbar Anthony!! I mean talk of coincidence.

And yes, I do know that this piece of information did not hold relevance right now. But it just came to mind, so I thought I will let you know. I think it’s really sweet.

Well tomorrow we are finally off to Houston. Half the team left today morning, the rest of us join them tomorrow. Have an early morning flight, so I better call it a night.

Next, from Houston.

 

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The morning half of the day passed by very quickly, it always does when you have an event in the latter half of the day. The press meet was scheduled at 3pm and the meet-and-greet with the fans right after that. It was so nice to see huge groups of people assemble in the lobby area of the Hotel to see their favourite stars.

When the stars came down, the lobby came alive with loud cheers and claps and one could hear fans shout praises and praises for day-before’s show. A similar thing happened when they entered the press meet venue. As Big B said that it was so heartening to see the media who were so appreciative and full of praise. And they were!! Before any media person asked any question they first gave each Unforgettable Star huge compliments. The press meet in San Francisco was more like an informal chat session and the Unforgettable Stars gave such jovial replies to all the questions they were asked, that each time they responded there was a huge applause!

Abhishek was questioned about how he felt dancing to his fathers’ song Khaike Pan Bana Raswala? Big B said that he wanted to answer that for him and then he told us that “Khaike Pan was not a part of the film originally, it was an afterthought.” The day the song was scheduled to be shot, Big B took Jr B along with him to the sets and every time the song played Abhishek would start dancing ( awwww…so sweet!) and then the team actually copied some steps of Jr B and incorporated that in the song.” Abhishek was quick to add in a deep baritone, “Amitabh Bachchan copied ME”! We all burst out laughing.

Riteish was then asked how he felt being a part of the tour (I still don’t understand why they ask such cliché questions..but nevertheless) he obviously spoke about how excited he was being a part of this extravaganza and the moment Abhishek had mentioned to this him, he immediately agreed. Though he did make one revelation that the excitement grew more when he found out about Madhuri was joining the tour because he had the ‘hugest’ crush on Madhuri. Well, who didn’t!?!!

The press meet went on with more such interesting questions and answers. As soon as that got over, the stars were moved into another room where a huge gathering of fans awaited for them. One by one, they all got the ‘unforgettable’ opportunity: getting their snaps clicked with stars and they were SO excited about it. Girls came out screaming, ‘Abhishek’!!! A group of fans sat down in the lobby and started singing Amitabh’s songs…

Abhishek-Ash left for India in the evening for a few days and will join us in Houston. Big B went to New York and will meet us directly in Houston. By the 2nd (that’s the Houston show-day) we all would have had enough time-out and I just know that Houston is going to be one helluva show!

Well tomorrow is our day off; the crew mostly plans to go around town.
Will let you know what we were all up to in San Francisco tomorrow….

 

PS: Mr B was soooo stunning yesterday..in a crisp white-shirt and a black suede jacket.

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Abhishek was at his enthusiastic best and kept the team in high-spirits, but I could see it every one of the performer’s eyes (Shiamak’s dancers included) that they didn’t care about any fatigue…no aches, no pains..they all just wanted to go onstage and have a blast and make sure that the crowd would have one too. And they sure did. Must give it up to the audience as well, who were so cheerful that it kept the adrenaline rushing for all backstage.

And when the show got over I sat and questioned myself that after four shows, can I pick my favourite act but then the answer was NO. However hard I tried, I couldn’t make a choice. Be it Riteish doing the Marathi thing or Preity as Pretty Woman or Ash in Dhoom, Madhuri in Dhak Dhak, Abhishek in Dus Bahane or Amitabh singing…they all were just too stunning to take a pick. But what I really admire the most about the show is the conceptualization. It is not a bunch of great actors thrown in dancing on their popular tracks. There is a concept that has been created, a sequence which makes it so much more wonderful. The ‘Being Amitabh Bachchan’ act is one of my favourties, outstanding! Abhishek danced on Khaike Pan Banaraswala, and then Ash joins him for Pardesia, Riteish grooves on Jumma Chumma and then all the Unforgettable Stars come together, along with Big B and dance to Sara Zamana from the movie Yarana. It so much fun to see Aishwarya, Abhishek, Preity and Ritiesh wear those famous light bulb jackets and when Big B joins them on stage, the enjoyment just sky-rockets.

Soon that sad feeling of another show getting over crossed my heart when the Emcee announced that ‘Ladies and Gentlemen we have come to the end of the show’. There are many more to go, I say and console myself…

Tomorrow the Unforgettable Stars meet their San Francisco fans during the day and then we have time-off..

Well it’s time to sleep, so I’ll call it a night and write to you tomorrow..

 

 

 

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No, none of us have fallen sick but I am just recovering (or rather absorbing) what I witnessed yesterday. As soon I reached the show venue, I was shocked to see thousands and thousands of fans lines up in long queues to get inside the LA Sports Arena. There was so much enthusiasm amongst the crowd that I decided at that very moment that I am going to sit and watch this entire show, no juggling between backstage and front stage this time… But yes, I did go backstage once, to wish everyone luck and for the group prayer. Those two minutes that we hold hands and pray together just takes our energy to another level and gives us that extra push we need, to go and give it our very best. As soon as we finished praying, Abhishek shouted ‘What time is it? and we all shouted back louder, “SHOWTIME!!!”

The show began and I got myself placed comfortably on the front row. One by one, the stars came onstage performing their individual acts and blew the audience away. This is the third show I was watching, yet I was still as mesmerized as I was after viewing the first one. All the Unforgettables, Riteish, Preity, Abhishek, Aishwarya, Vishal, Shekhar and Amitabh put up spectacular performances. Abhishek got everyone to their feet and made them dance with him to his popular song Dus Bahane. He even called on stage four audience members to learn the steps with him and then sent them back to teach the rest of the fans present… When Abhishek was introducing Aishwarya on stage after his act was over, he very sweetly said, ‘LA you are so beautiful, all you people are so beautiful but not as beautiful as the person who is coming on next.’ He then said, ‘that I can sit here all night to talk about the next performer but if I do that I would have to sleep on the couch and that I don’t want that’ , the crowd broke into a thunderous applause. Abhishek and Riteish even came up for an impromptu jig when Ash was on stage and sitting in the audience one could feel the amazingly friendly vibe between the three of them… so brilliant!

Then I gasped loudly when the announcement said that the next performer was Madhuri Dixit.. But you know what is so great about watching her dance live is that everyone comes with a whole bunch of expectations from her and she just outshines them all. She is perfection personified.. She danced to some of her most popular numbers, starting with Dance of Envy (Dil to Pagal Hai) to Ek Do Teen (Tehzaab) to Dhak Dhak (Beta) to Ke Sera Sera (Pukar) to her recent super hit Aaja Nachle.. and left each and every person in the audience spellbound… The already super-active venue came alive with shouts of encore when Madhuri finished her act and she obviously did not leave them disappointed. In fact what the audiences got next, was a double treat! The drama of Devdas came alive on the Unforgettable Stage when the two most gorgeous women moved to the tunes of Dola Re and set new standards, created new benchmarks for live performances everywhere.

There was a new act this time - a part of the extravaganza called ‘Shades of Love’. The Unforgettable Stars brought out different emotions related to love and portrayed them to perfection in their performances. Riteish danced to Del De Diya Hai, Preity on a song from Veer Zara and Abhi-Ash on Tera Bina from Guru and one really needed to be there to see that awesome chemistry between the two of the them, making everyone’s heart go a little weak. And not like the choreography of the other acts doesn’t make you go ‘WOW’, but in ‘Shades of Love’m I do think that Shiamak outdid himself. I have never seen the emotion of love presented so beautifully in any dance form..

The finale song ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ was undoubtedly the most rocking thing I have ever, or would have ever imagined. I had never thought that I would see Amitabh, Madhuri, Aishwarya, Abhishek, Preity, Ritiesh, Vishal and Shekhar grooving together, that too in such close proximity. ‘Unforgettable’, well thats the only word that comes to my mind after seeing this..

Well I apologize that i couldn’t write this as soon as the show was over: wifi connectivity issue. So the moment I got ‘connected’ I wrote this, was really dying to share the superb LA experience. By the way we have reached San Francisco and the show here is in a couple of hours.

Will write as soon as I am back from the SFO Show!

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The day started off on a little laid back note (unusual, ya I know!). As always all of us spent the morning having breakfast together , I ran into Riteish and just before I could launch into another of my long conversations, he told me he was off the gym. I hung out with the rest of the crew and then around ten we all left to get ready to leave for rehearsals.

We reached the venue where the lights, sound and all the other technical checks were on. And let me just tell you that if the rehearsals are any indication, tomorrow’s show is going to rock and HOW! The first rehearsal schedule was of Madhuri’s and when she finished rehearsing her act, we completely forgot to clap…we are so amazed, so spellbound by her magic that none of us knew what to say or what to do…she was terrific!! Abhishek, Aishwarya and Ritiesh walked in a little later to practice their parts. As usual jokes, shouts, laughs, glitches were all part of the rehearsal time and as usual it was great to be in the midst of it all. I must also mention that since I didn’t have my camera with me, Abhishek specially told me to write that he wore a lime green tee and ash was dressed in harem pants and an Ed-hardy beige tee and they both left together for rehearsals around 12.30, and what he didn’t tell me to write, but I still am going to is that he looked smashing as ever..

The day at the venue passed by quickly and we all reached back, very tired, around 8.30pm. We decided to call it a night, we start our day tomorrow at seven and we need real good sleep.

I have just finished dinner and sleep is calling my name. Will write to you guys tomorrow, post the show.

Cheers

 

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Today I was woken up with at least a thousand frantic calls. We had a press conference at 12 and as one can imagine lots of last minute details needed to be addressed. But in the usual ‘Unforgettable’ spirit, we kept our calm and went down for breakfast with the rest of the crew. One really good thing that we all do is start the day together…we all come down from our rooms at almost the same time for breakfast.. the stars, the crew, the dancers…it’s our time to bond and it’s real good fun…

So while we were finishing breakfast and getting with the preparations of the press conference, thoughts of my meeting with Riteish (remember we were supposed to go to Rodeo Drive with him, but that didn’t happen so we just had a chat in the Hotel itself) got my tension levels down drastically. The moment we met, the first question I asked was ‘two shows old, how does it feel’? and my witty friend replied that ‘I feel like a kid lost in a toy store. People have actually come here to watch us.” He still adds with that lovable mischievous smile on his face “there was even a person in the audience holding a poster which read “I LOVE RITESIH” and guess what, I had paid her for that” and we both burst out laughing. Riteish also told me that he is an architect by profession, has an office running in Mumbai and has quite a few projects going on. I almost gasp in exasperation and wonder where does he find the time for all this?? Anyway I then ask him to pick two actors who have had tremendous influence on his life, the first one is he says is ‘obviously Amitabh Bachchan, who is an institution by himself’ and the second one is Shahrukh Khan. He tells me that he was a very shy kind of a guy in school who did not talk to girls much but when he used to see SRK on screen he totally wished that he could become Raj or Rahul. One thing I can tell you that when you’re sitting with Riteish there is just no way that you can’t have a constant smile on your face. He then told me that that yesterday he met with Akshay Kumar who is here in LA, shooting at the Universal Studio for his forthcoming film. We then chatted about his future plans. He also said, “I am very happy that our shows in Toronto and Trinidad were a huge success. Meeting Kevin Costner in LA was an unforgettable experience, we had a wonderful conversation!” I felt bad that our chat was to come to end because the time of the press conference was coming closer.

We had a good turnout of media and while we were waiting for Madhuri to begin the conference I saw Abhishek, Ash and Riteish having a great laugh about something and then I felt that it is this fun that these stars have together that translates onstage making the show really ‘Unforgettable’. Nevertheless the press conference began; media threw a volley of questions to all the stars who answered them with utmost ease. Once the Q&A session was over we proceeded for one-on-one interviews which went on till 3pm. In the middle of all this, we hear that Wizcraft Director, Wiz Andre Timmins, who is right here with us in LA has had a healthy baby boy. His wife delivered a handsome son and the proud daddy immediately got himself booked on the next flight out to be with his new bundle of joy….

The evening time was scheduled for the meet and greet with the fans and local sponsors. As soon as that got over with, the Stars hurried back to the rooms to get some rest..it has been a long day.

Anyway I am off to dinner now. Will update you tomorrow from the rehearsals (because thats what we will be doing all day)

 

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The highlight of today?? Meeting with Madhuri. All other work done in the day somehow seems irrelevant in front of spending a good 30 minutes with one of the best actresses India has ever known…Madhuri Dixit!

The day started early, just the thought of meeting Madhuri Dixit kept me awake. The meeting happened around afternoon. Dressed casually in a white and black Kurti and denims when she walked out of her villa looking as gorgeous as ever, everyone around skipped a heart-beat, too star-struck!!

She exuded warmth and the friendly person that she is, we got chatting about the tour and her association with it. She told me how happy she was to be a part of this Tour, how in the past there have been attempts of getting her and Mr. Bachchan together but things didn’t work out but she told me that the thing that she is most looking forward to from this tour is reaching out to the fans. She adds, ”that’s the best!”

As we got chatting I decided to ask one of my favourite actresses, her favourite and it turned out to be a some kind of rapid fire section. So here is a list of some of Madhuri’s exclusive favourites:

Favourite Colour:                                 Orange

Favourite Movie:                                  Padosan

Favourite English Movie:                      Roman Holiday

Favourite Cuisine:                                Indian

Favourite Holiday:                                Hawaii

Favourite City:                                     Amchi Mumbai

Favourite of the Unforgettable Tour:    Dola Re

Favourite song of Big B:                       Choo kar mere man ko

Favourite perfume:                               Nina Ricci

Favourite Party Place:                           Home with the Children!!

Though I tried my best to stay calm, I continued to hyperventilate for a long time after the meeting with her was over. We barely managed to eat lunch and instead got into another loop of meetings, last minute preparations, show-flows, media activities, etc etc.

Our plan to go out with Riteish to the Rodeo Drive got canned, but no worries it has been pushed for tomorrow. Tomorrow is another choc-o-block day, we got time-out with Riteish, a press conference and a meet and greet session. So the plate is full!!

By the way in this very eventful day, we managed to squeeze ourselves a half an hour to check out Hollywood!! Yes, walking down the walk of fame does make you feel very important. The place is so alive, bustling with activity that it totally consumes you. Universal Studios was also on the radar, but time constraints forced us to come back.

The meetings and discussion continued and I kept switching from thinking about her to reality. Tomorrow with so much happening, I am sure there would be lots to update

 

Good Night

PS: For those wondering where the pics have gone, some technical issues. From tomorrow it will be sorted, so we can have a picture galore from tomorrow!!!

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Imagine this, you are fast asleep. It’s your day-off, it’s 9am but you still know you can sleep for another hour. And the phone rings, you can barely talk and you ask who’s this? The reply from the other side comes, Madhuri!!! Yes, it’s true. This is how I was woken up today, one of the best mornings of my life…

Well there are three days to go for the first US show and preparations are in full swing! Though it was technically our day-off, we felt this dire need to work, so the hotel was literally divided into mini-meeting rooms today. By the pool side, in the lounge, in the restaurants, one could see small groups of Wizcraft crews sitting, putting the last pieces together for the Los Angeles show..

The Unforgettable Stars took a much deserved day off. Preity left the hotel around afternoon dressed in a cool purple dress, don’t know where she went though. The four Bachchans along with Riteish went to catch a couple of movies and just before they left Abhishek told us that the new Batman flick and the musical: Mama Mia was on their agenda. Madhuri stayed in her room and rehearsed for the better part of the day with her trainer from the Shiamak troupe.

Tomorrow is an exciting day. We have couple of shoots lined-up… with Riteish, Madhuri and the Bachchans. So looking forward to that. Oh and by the way…Kevin Costner is staying in the same hotel as us!! No, I haven’t bumped into him, but totally optimistic to do so one of these days.

Anyway, its time I sign-off and catch some rest before an action-packed day tomorrow.

Bye!

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Today was another one of those days, spent juggling between aircrafts and airports…

One batch left Trinidad today at 7am to Los Angeles. Out flight was via Miami and since the transit time was almost 4 hours we decided to go check out some bits of the rocking city. So we re-checked in our bags, checked the help desk on where the nearest place to go was, got into a cab and we were off to ‘magical mile’ (that’s the name of the street) to get some food. The short drive through the city was really pleasant, the sun was glaring though but we were just happy to be out..

We walked a couple of blocks and found a nice eatery and ordered a large sumptuous meal for ourselves. By the time we finished, it was time to go back to the airport. The connecting flight was almost delayed by an hour and we reached LA around 7pm.

There was a car waiting for us at the airport taking us to this really fancy hotel where we will stay for the next 5 days and the best part is that it’s right in the heart of Hollywood. More great news??? Madhuri Dixit has joined the tour, she is staying at the same hotel here and arrived in L.A. around 8.30pm. The Bachchan family, Preity and Riteish reached the hotel at 12.30. Everyone just rushed to their rooms to catch a good nights’ rest after the long journey.

Guess I better call it a day too…

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Just when you think it can’t get bigger than this, they just take you by storm. I had barely managed to absorb the magnitude of the Toronto show, when Trinidad happened. One of the best shows I have seen…really!

 

The crowds started lining up from 3pm for a show that was scheduled to start at 7!!! I managed to get myself front row seats and had a perfect view of this spectacular extravaganza…The show began with a power-packed act by Riteish followed by a dazzler by Preity. Abhishek didn’t walk through the crowd this time but ensured that everyone in the audience was on their toes, dancing with him. Aishwarya’s performance, as usual, won loud cheers and when Amitabh Bachchan walked on stage, my heart skipped a beat once more… Not that the audience weren’t enthralled enough, Big B decided to give his Caribbean fans a double treat! After rendering few of his most famous songs, he sang a traditional Caribbean calypso song that created sheer hysteria. The stadium echoed ‘encore’ ‘encore’…really, when can Big B fans ever get enough of him???

 

The Rockstars of the evening, Vishal and Shekhar, took the energy quotient of the show to another level all together. They had theirs and everyone’s adrenaline rushing when they pumped some of their latest and biggest hits on stage…

 

This is the second show I have seen in a row, and I am still left speechless…

 

By the way, the day was quite interesting too.. The meet and greet with fans sadly did not happen but we had the Unforgettable Stars have a quick question-answer session with the local media. Intriguing questions were asked and interesting replies given. One journalist questioned Aishwarya, if Abhishek had promised her a baby? Big B was quick to respond and said, “Every husband promises his wife a child. Abhishek quickly held Ash’s hand and said, ‘I promise’. The room burst into laughter.The word ‘baby’ actually held on then throughout the day even when a journalist complimented Riteish on his impeccable timing in Heyy Baby, he said “Sajid had promised me a baby and gave me one”…more laughs followed.

 

Well you see a fun-filled morning went on to become an action-packed night. Quite a stunner!
Next destination - LA, we leave tomorrow.

Next update from the United States.

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