Big B turns 77 on Oct 11; wants no fanfare on b’day

Mumbai: Amitabh Bachchan turns 77 on October 11 but the superstar is in no mood to celebrate his birthday this year.
“What is there to celebrate? It’s a day like any other. I’m grateful that I still working, that my body is able to keep pace with my spirit,” he says, humbly urging his wellwishers to pray for his good health.
Big B recalls his childhood birthdays when his father, the late poet Harivanshrai Bachchan, would always compose and recite a poem for him.
“It was a family tradition,” the veteran actor recalls, adding: “But this tradition took an entirely new definition when, after my near-fatal accident in 1984 (when he nearly lost his life after a shooting accident on the set of ‘Coolie’), my father recited my birthday poem. It was like a new life for me. While reading the poem my father broke down. It was the only time I’ve seen him like that.” Big B says things have changed over time, as far as birthday rituals go. “My father’s poetry is much-missed, as is my mother’s excitement on that day. The annual ritual of cake-cutting no longer interests me. It has been replaced by a plate of dry fruits,” he says.
Does he have any unfulfilled dream? “There’re so many! I want play the piano. I want to learn many languages. I’d have liked to work with Guru Dutt,” he says.