Touch wood!
The film industry is replete with Tales of how The Mighty Take recourse To charms and chants To Keep luck on Their side
Recently, when a high- profile production banner’s expensively- mounted film tanked at the box office, the story goes that the date, place and exact birth time of every one of its employees were put up for scrutiny. A pundit, which the family- owned companyc trusts, had to then say whether ana employee was ‘ lucky’ or ‘ unlucky’. Those who didn’t make the cut were given notice fo or termination of services.
Now, that may be a bizarre case of bankin ng on the ‘ luck’ factor. Yet, Bollywood has consistently stuck to the notion that there is s something in the stars above which determines their destiny. Not surprisingly, then, show business folk are a strongly superstitious lot. Or should we call that merely being human?
Come to think of it, which mortal isn’t a believer in luck? All of us, however rational we may be, have our share of insecurities and fears. If film stars freeze at the sight of a black cat crossing their path, so do many of us. Only in the case of the film fraternity, superstitions can go to incredibly extreme levels.
From Amitabh Bachchan and Lata Mangeshkar to Sanjay Dutt, Kareena Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan — all of them resort to lucky mascots, gems, colours and charms. Most film families also consult godmen on subjects ranging from whether they should sign on a certain film or not, to which day and time to catch a flight. In recent years, there has been the phenomenon of ‘ life coaches’, one of whom reportedly advised a senior producer- director to separate from his wife for a while, till the hefty fortunes of the family returned to square one.
Amitabh Bachchan has gone on record to say he doesn’t watch ‘ live’ telecasts of cricket matches since he believes that whenever he does so, India loses the match. So, he watches the repeat telecast of a match after it’s over.
Changing one’s name to a more ‘ auspicious’ spelling has been commonplace. Ritesh Deshmukh goes as ‘ Riteish’ in the tradition of Sunil Shetty who became ‘ Suniel’. Vivek Oberoi became ‘ Viveik’ but returned to the original Vivek when there was no reversal of fortune. Sunjay Dutt was told that the ‘ u’ in his first name wasn’t working, at the very onset of his career. Hence, it has been Sanjay ever since.
Film titles can change original spellings too. To cite a personal example, the film I wrote based on the life story of my mother, Zubeida, was altered to Zubeidaa. A numerologist had instructed the producer that a title with eight letters would be more auspicious than just seven.
Shah Rukh Khan nurses a fascination for 555 — be it for his car number plate or in his mobile phone number. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and AR Rahman have one thing in common: 786. If Rahman’s phone number has 786 in it, Aishwarya, it is believed, is wont to collect currency notes which have the 786 number. On another note, Akshay Kumar will never write anything on a blank page unless he begins it with an ‘ Om’ sign.
Ekta Kapoor and Karan Johar have moved on from the letter K fixation for their movie titles. But Rakesh Roshan hasn’t, and has just announced the fourth edition of his Krrish franchise. Coincidence or not, son Hrithik Roshan’s other in- the- works project is titled Kaabil. Evidently, all of Hrithik’s ‘ K’- titled films have clicked.
Incidentally, Rakesh Roshan’s father- inlaw, the movie moghul J Om Prakash, always produced films starting with the letters ‘ Aa’ on scoring his first major hits with Aaye Din Bahar Ke, Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke and Aan Milo Sajna, back in the 60s- 70s.
As for the showy filmmaker Subhash Ghai, after he successfully launched the career of Madhuri Dixit, he opted for heroines whose names began with the letter ‘ M’ — from Manisha Koirala and Mahima Chaudhry to his last discovery Mishti, who, as it turned out, couldn’t make the grade.
Quite curiously, Preity Zinta believes that whenever she falls down on the sets of a movie, it becomes a super hit. Mithun Chakraborty avoids the first day of his film’s shoot, contending that whenever he has been present at the ‘ mahurat’, the outcome has been a major flop.
Govinda doesn’t take a decision on his private or professional life without consulting his guru. Ditto Sanjay Dutt, who, through all his vicissitudes, has kept in touch with a Delhi- based godman. Ajay Devgn seeks the blessings of a guru, whether he is starting a new project or buying a car. Frequently, Kajol is seen wearing a ‘ charmed’ arm- bracelet.
And Gulzar, to maintain a sense of tranquillity at home, has a sizeable collection of Buddha sculptures. Amitabh Bachchan wears several rings to keep himself out of harm’s way.
That’s how the wheel of fortune spins on, asserting the fact that to live and thrive in the movies is a matter of luck by chance.
DEAR MS ( Problem # 1. If you were to rip out a page of a book, crumple it and then lay the wadded ball back on the book, at least one point on the crumpled page will always be directly over its original position. Why is that? — MS)
I’ve got a huge amount of answers that deal with Brouwer’s fixed point t heorem i n t opology which states that for any continuous function ‘ f’ mapping a compact convex set into itself — and so on and so forth and so forth and so on, etc etc, etc — that a commerce graduate, history teacher, sociology major or law student would repeatedly retch on. Therefore here are the simplest two answers instead.
WAD- To- Do- DEPT: The wad covers a small portion of the original area and the remaining
LEO JUL 23 AUG 22
This is an excellent week to really measure the essential qualities that you are looking for in another person as well as measure what you have to offer yourself. You will certainly see the strengths and weaknesses in any relationship. Be balanced in your appraisal. Important communications brings luck.
VIRGO AUG 23 SEP 22
Opposition at home or work may arise, or you may block the suggestions of others. Interference or meddling can make it difficult to stay focused on any task. Your decisions may sometimes suffer from being narrowminded and overly cautious. Try to analyse without being paralysed by the details.
LIBRA SEP 23 OCT 23
Exaggerated claims seem to appeal to you and you may overstate your own position as well. All agreements made now are favourable, but tend to drain your resources. Be wary of inflated costs in all transactions. Try to look beyond the obvious, as you may not be able to resist the allure of a good opportunity.