"T 1827–Honoured and humbled, the Padma Vibhushan!" tweeted Sr Amitabh Bachchan on Wednesday morning. And indeed, what an honour it is! So much so, that the usually verbose Bollywood living legend could not fully describe how moved he was, ending his thought with: "Words fail me to acknowledge the love and affection of the people that brought me here!"
With the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards already under his belt, Bachchan was further honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in Delhi which he received from the President, Pranab Mukherjee. Looking on with pride was his main support system: son Abhishek Bachchan, daughter Shweta Nanda and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Congratulations Sr Bachchan!
Whilst Big B was being congratulated on Twitter, another was being roasted.
Actor Saif Ali Khan hosted the opening ceremony of the IPL 8 on television, and from what we saw, it was more than just a little awkward. IBN live summed it up by saying that the presentation "lacked both spirit and verve", and said that viewers were confused as to the direction of the show.
"Just because one is a popular actor, doesn't mean he will instantly be an equally impressive host." they added. You'll be somewhat comforted by the fact that he was not necessarily the reason why the IPL's opening sort of bombed (we'll give you the full scoop in the next #BollyTalks).
Aside from that, you'll be happy to hear that Saif's stars seem to have lined-up favourably: he's made a three-film deal with talented producer Ekta Kapoor.
#BollyTalks does not have details of all three, but we know from a good source that Ekta's Devotion of Suspect X with Sujoy Ghosh is definitely one, and it sounds exciting! Bollywoodlife describes it as "a detective thriller novel packed with action, emotion and some filmi suspense."
We were so happy to hear about Saif's luck since it's been hard for him to shake his fairly recent past that returns time to time through court appearances for a couple alleged assaults; one as recent as 2012 where he was reported to the police for punching a man and his father-in-law. He also had a situation with a photojournalist in 2008 which was "settled amicably."
Fingers crossed that nothing goes down between now and the completion of this film deal that he's signed. Fans, already clued-in to the project, are nothing but eager to see their favourite actor on screen, portraying something different to his usual roles.