When Mahesh Bhatt criticised Amitabh Bachchan for having God complex
When Mahesh Bhatt criticised Amitabh Bachchan for having God complex
Mahesh Bhatt has come down heavily on actors being idolised and worshipped as God
Even temples are built and their idol is worshipped.
Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt also went ahead to criticize the legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan for the God complex and people building temple in his name and worshipping him like God . He also expressed concern over the narcissistic traits and God complex these actions might promote.
No doubt It’s a tradition, especially in the south where fans idolise their favourite stars so much that they build temples in their name with their statues. Actors then achieve a status of God and are literally worshipped.
One has seen this level of craze for many superstars – right from Rajinikanth to Amitabh Bachchan. Many years ago, when a wax idol of Bachchan was erected and worshipped, Mahesh Bhatt had criticised this practice. He had even cryptically said that Bachchan is narcissistic to have agreed to it.
Mahesh Bhatt had written an article on this in the 2000s and accused Bachchan of having a God complex because of his need to be loved and validated.
Bhatt had written when a temple was erected in Bachchan’s honour in Kolkata, “Human beings love to revere someone larger then themselves.
He wonders why?”
He went on to add “What would make people in the east of Kolkata erect a makeshift temple near Mall Road on Guru Purnima day and then in an air filled with the fragrance of burning incense pray for hours with passion and folded hands to a wax idol of Amitabh Bachchan?
What would make them turn the superstar into a living God? All these questions rushed through his mind when this happened recently because although this news was received with jubilation by the Mumbai film industry, it made the veteran filmmaker sad.
He further spoke about how people want to think of themselves as Gurus or God and it’s a narcissistic trait as this love is just one-sided. “Most of them might not have realised that this personal God was actually an idol carved in the image of themselves, a projection of their own limited needs, fears and desires. And by praying to this God, the followers hoped to establish a permanent link with the cultural phenomenon of their time.
In the case of Kolkata too, one can see that the members of Amitabh Bachchan’s fan club hope to get a sense of security for themselves and reinstate everything they stand for, by exalting him to the status of a God. Being a part of this belief system, this event must have inflated Amitabh’s ego to monstrous proportions. And because disciples often attribute magical powers to their Guru, experts feel that this form of idealization is even more dangerous than falling in love.
Because this love is often one-sided. All gurus are megalomaniacs and narcissists.”
He continued, “Their only aim in life is to be loved rather than love anyone else. This need to be loved and to be the center of attention, together with the grandiosity which accompanies It shadows them till they die. Amitabh’s ‘agreeing” to become a guru and a god is an expression of his need to be loved and validated. Of course this is not the first time this is happening.
All the time new aspirants for the position of God are being born, waiting to displace the one that sits on the ‘throne’ before them.”
Bhatt had concluded this article by saying that it’s the utlimate ambition of any human to be worshipped by all. He quoted Friedrich Nietzsche’s question to sum this urge of a human which read, ‘If there is a god why ant I not him?’”
News Edit KV Raman
