THE BACHCHANS 2004 Five years had passed since my first rendezvous with Amit-ji. He had come through a lot, health, finance and career problems. But now he was back, bigger than ever before...a legend. No one can claim to 'know' Amitabh. So I had to meet him with the persons he is closest to in the world -- his family. They arrived through the studio gates in a stately convoy of luxury make-up vans and Mercedes SL 500s. The women dressed in brocades and rubies; the men in their classic designer suits and ties. It was the Bachchans, Amitabh, Jaya, Shweta and Abhishek, keeping their 'Rendezvous with Simi Garewal'. I loved the camaraderie, the in-house jokes, the teasing, which only a family can get away with! I also sensed the unstated alliances. Amit-ji and Shweta were a team! Jaya-ji and Abhishek. And yet, they were a unit of one. Without doubt, India has a continuing love-affair with Amitabh Bachchan. They've seen him in hundreds of films in hundreds of roles..but here they'll see him in his essence -- as the family man. http://www.simigarewal.com