Is Bollywood boycotting the Bachchans?

THE POWERFUL Bachchan family seems to be getting unpopular with every passing day and this is affecting their much hyped world tour, Unforgettable 2008, as none of the big stars want to shake a leg on stage with them. The latest star to dump them is Akshay Kumar.

Citing date reasons, Akshay has excused himself out of the Unforgettable tour, and he isn’t the only one. In the past Hrithik Roshan and John Abraham also turned down the offer citing busy schedules and date problems. Insiders insist that there’s more to this story than what meets the eye.

Apparently, the Bachchan’s are promoting the Unforgettable tour as their first stage performance as a ‘family’ and Aishwarya and Abhishek’s first world tour as a married couple with the limelight on them. This hasn’t gone down well with the other stars who feel that they were being treated as glorified extras.

Hrithik, Akshay and John, were reportedly not interested in playing second fiddle to Abhishek, Aishwarya and senior Bachchan and hence preferred to stay out of the world tour.

Apart from Aishwarya, Abhishek and Amitabh, the Unforgettable gang consists of Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu and Riteish Deshmukh. The Bachchans presumed that since Bipasha was accompanying them John would definitely agree to sign on, but the later, politely declined citing busy schedules.

Since John and Junior Bachchan fought for more screen-time in Dhoom, John chose to keep away from the tour.

Akshay on the other hand has worked with Big B in many films and his sudden walk-out seems to be surprising, but a well placed source says that Akshay is miffed with Amitabh for his unsavory comments on Bhool Bhulaiya.

“Amitabh was supposed to play Akshay’s role in Bhool Bhulaiya but since Akshay was friends with director Priyadarshan he managed to get the role. After this Big B announced he’d never work with Akshay and this upset him a lot. Also, at the time of Waqt, Amitabh had accused Akshay of trying to hog the limelight and snipping off AB’s role. Akshay has never forgiven him for that.”

Hrithik on the other hand, post the success of Dhoom 2 hasn’t been too close to Abhishek. Despite being Ash’s co-star in Jodha Akbar he wasn’t invited for their wedding even though director Ashutosh Gowarikar was invited.

If you don’t share your happiness with others then how can you expect them to work with you? It was reported that Amitabh personally rang up Rakesh Roshan to request his son to sign on, but in vain.

The lack of a big name could put the Unforgettable tour in jeopardy. They face tough competition from Shah Rukh Khan’s world tour, Temptations 2008, which kick starts before them and boasts of bigger names such as Rani Mukherji, Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra apart from King Khan himself.

A trade source informs, “Undoubtedly SRK is much more popular overseas than all the Bachchans put together. And after the super success of Om Shanti Om there is no comparison between the two in the popularity department. SRK is a massive crowd puller and knows how to interact with the masses while the two junior Bachchans are seen as distant and cold, not just by industry insiders but also by discerning fans. Hrithik or Akshay could’ve helped them pull in the crowds.”

Yet another filmmaker explains, “SRK’s group boasts of bigger stars. While Ash maybe an international name she isn’t as popular as Preity or Rani on stage. Moreover Abhishek hasn’t had a big hit in a long time and Big B alone can’t get the crowds.”

Wonder why the powerful and mighty Bachchans are finding it so difficult to get a big star to work with them.

An actor who requests anonymity says, “Lately their attitude hasn’t gone down too well with others. Not inviting the industry for Abhishek’s wedding seems to be their biggest sin. Something the industry will never forget. And now promoting the Unforgettable tour as a Bachchan family affair with other actors as fringe actors has left everyone irked!”

A trade source claims that Aishwarya has isolated Abhishek from his friends and this could also be a reason.

“Abhishek isn’t friends with Rani, Salman, Esha Deol, Sushmita Sen and many others because Ash doesn’t like them. So he definitely can’t count on any of them,” claims the source.

So does this mean that Bollywood is boycotting the Bachchan family once again?