Amitabh Bachchan returns to college

It is indeed a well-known fact that a particular college in Delhi has given our film industry some of its brightest luminaries over the years.

Kirori Mal College, Delhi University has indeed produced such stalwarts as actors Amitabh Bachchan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Satish Kaushik, late Ravi Baswani, late Dinesh Thakur, V.M.Badola, Ashiesh Roy, Gurpal Singh, Siddharth (of Rang De Basanti fame), Zeeshan Ayub, ace radio jockey Rishi K, directors Victor (Dhoom 3), Kabir Khan (Bajrangi Bhaijaan), Ali Abbas (Sultan), Habib Faisal (Do Dooni Chaar) and singers K.K. and Julius Paciam, to name a few. All have been part of the college’s elite theatre group ‘The Players’, and swear by the group and its outstanding activities, and unanimously declare it as a major contributor to their acting and musical chops.

However, in the last few years, the college auditorium has been in shambles, and needs a very urgent facelift.

“It is disheartening to see students rehearsing for their plays in the college playground,” states Ashiesh Roy.

Victor echoes these sentiments saying, “We spent most of our formative years in the auditorium and hardly in our classes. To see it in its current state is heart breaking!”

Even Kabir Khan agrees, “Something has got to be done. Our second home can’t languish like this.”

While all talks with the college alumni has broken down over the past 12 years for one reason or the other, the ex-KM-ites and members of The Players all over the country and abroad have finally decided to join forces and raise the necessary funds – a staggering Rs. 6 crores – on their own, to restore the college auditorium into a state-of-the-art facility for future generations, and to rename it after their most revered and influential mentor, Professor Frank Thakur Das.  

Keval Arora and veteran actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik kick-started this campaign last month by appealing to the industry's top guns to pitch in for their alma mater's renovation. And the response to the appeal has been fantastic. The first name that came to mind to flagship this fundraising campaign was that of Amitabh Bachchan.

“He was gracious enough to meet me, our honorary Principal and Satish Kaushik at his residence, and instead of the 30 minutes he allotted to us, spent over an hour listening to our re-development plans and giving suggestions on how to go about it. Needless to say, it was a terrific morale booster for us,” informs Keval.

"He is our torch bearer and was gracious enough to lend support to the initiative. In fact, it was Amitji who came up with the idea of making a video with the star alumni appealing for funds. He also agreed to visit the college in April," Satish Kaushik informs.

And not stopping at promises, Bachchan agreed to flag off the campaign by attending the first fund raising dinner hosted by Satish Kaushik at Sun ‘N’ Sand last night. He regaled everyone present with his wit and charming anecdotes from his college days, especially remembering how he was the first boy to enter the hallowed portals of Miranda House to perform a play. More anecdotes and wild stories followed as he was joined on stage by directors Victor, Kabir Khan and Ali Zafar. And Mr. Bachchan capped the event by donating Rs. 51 lakhs to the campaign, which effectively brought the house down.

It was a magical night as the guests mingled freely with each other, hugging, backslapping and laughing unabashedly, exchanging wild stories and generally catching up. The cameras clicked frenetically, capturing each of these moments for posterity. “It was like the clock just rolled back and we were all back in college again,” Ashiesh gushes.

Well, the ball has been set rolling, now let’s wait and see how far it rolls. We wish ‘The Players’ all the very best.

We hope that they get their beloved auditorium back!