'Amitabh is the best'

He was 15 when he came to Mumbai and like many others fell by the wayside of Bollywood's dream factory. It's been many years since but stardust still clouds Avinash Kumar's vision, his Bollywood ideal still intact and cynicism kept at bay thanks mainly to his 'god' Amitabh Bachchan who turns 66 Saturday.

From wannabe star to a small-time businessman who runs an Amitabh Bachchan fan club, Avinash says his idol's movies are his biggest source of inspiration. "Amitabh is like god to us who shows us our path. It is through his films that we get our energy to do our work and live our life which is full of struggle," Avinash said.

His struggles and family pressures made him take up a regular job and kept him from making it in big in Bollywood. "But that did not deter me from watching Amitabh's films or my love and admiration for him."

In 1997, he got together with other Amitabh fans to start a fan club that has seen membership go from five to 150 over the years.

"We either have the DVDs or CDs of every film of Bachchan right from his first movie. A member can come and watch them whenever he wants. Besides, once a week, we meet and enact various scenes from his films. All the members of the club are good actors. The best performer is awarded a prize. Only Amitabh's films and his dialogues, no other actor's films or dialogues are allowed," he added emphatically.

Of course, Oct 11 is a big day. "Most of our club members assemble and we cut a cake and distribute chocolates, sweets and ice creams. One thing that everybody here has in their mind is 'Main Amitabh Bachchan banna chahta hoon' (I want to be Amitabh Bachchan). But none of our members are professional actors."

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