Big B's advice for Anil Kapoor

There is no getting away from Amitabh Bachchan’s style statements.

Whether it is a pink coat, innumerable rings on his fingers or his French beard. From critics to fans to interviewers, everybody has commented on the last and got various results. Recently, it was the turn of Anil Kapoor to have his say. But in his defence, we must say, that Big B started it all himself at an event in the city this time.

It was during a news conference for International Indian Film Academy awards on the outskirts of New Delhi where it all started with Anil Kapoor saying he never goes to award functions because he never gets any awards. To this, Amitabh, a veteran of many a honour, quipped, "Well, I guess Anil should change the colour of his French beard to rectify this!".

Anil had this response to this advice from his senior: "I think my beard is giving Mr Bachchan a complex. I have always majorly experimented with my looks. I have also kept a goatee and Mr Bachchan never went close to that. But one thing I haven’t done - I haven’t kept black hair with white French beard." All said in jest, let us assure you!

But it wasn’t all lighthearted banter, there was serious stuff discussed too. Topmost on their minds was global warming. A recent study that said there are just eight years left to go before global warming will change the earth drastically had set Big B thinking. "We just have eight years left and this is very less time," he said, adding, "We all can make a difference by doing our little bit. Like switching off the electric bulb when not using it, not charging the mobile for too long and not leaving the television on the standby mode. The pace at which India is progressing, we will soon reach where the US and China are today. And they are most affected by global warming."

Anil, meanwhile, had a filmi perspective on it. "I recently watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, which is based on this issue, and I am completely shaken up by it. Not many in India have the complete knowledge about global warming and it will take ages for us to be fully equipped to handle something like this. With a growing economy, it is going to get worse. I must point out that international celebrities are more dedicated to such causes than us. I have met Kevin Costner, Goldie Hawn and Will Smith. I have found them more knowledgeable and more dedicated," he says.