Shiver your timbers: avoid black meowing billis, never ever walk under a stationary ladder, be wary of Friday 13th. Now, smile wider than the Howrah Bridge: love horseshoes, beaded amulets, four-leaf clovers, adore the letter 7.
Okay, so we’re only human, bristling like porcupines with our beliefs, superstitions, convictions and quirks. Still no one believes in luck, chance and naseeb more intensely than the B-townies do. Defy Dame Luck and a superstar’s kismet could go yuck.
Best to ward off evil than to welcome calamity. Like Ringo Starr of the Beatles, Amitabh Bachchan wears a variety of rings on a majority of his fingers to keep diabolical elements at bay. And that includes carping critics. He doesn’t watch “live” cricket telecasts: whenever he has, the Indian team has been trounced. Solution: watch only repeat telecasts. And he will not part with any of the pens he has acquired over the decades. Apart from being sentimentally attached to them, he’s inked oodles of contracts with them. Abhishek Bachchan won’t change his first cellphone number or the handset because it was gifted to him by Senior B. Lata Mangeshkhar, Aishwarya Rai, Sanjay Dutt and Kareena Kapoor are partial to lucky gems, charms and amulets. The Kapoor girl, it is said, will assent to a new film only after consulting the family astrologer, who is said to be an expert in predicting hits and flops. Lore goes that Mum Babita conjectures that those who don’t sign on her daughter, are likely to bite the box-office dust. Oh well.
Besides a closetful of crispy, white kurtas, Gulzar collects Lord Buddha heads in stone, brass and sandalwood.These are kept in his library to radiate tranquility. And Salman Khan wears a thick jade-stone bracelet, a replica of the one worn by his father, scriptwriter Salim Khan.
Over to Shah Rukh Khan. When he was combating health issues, he was persuaded by wife Gauri to wear an emerald ring. On his own volition, SRK never discards any of his film costumes, be it the jackets of Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or the mousy clerk’s discounted shirts of Rab ne Bana di Jodi. At his Mannat villa, an airport-hangar-sized room houses the memoribilia on hangers. He can’t let go of the past. Ditto Dimple Kapadia on a micro-scale. She has stored the red chiffon sari, tartan skirts and swimwear worn in her comeback film, Saagar, after her separation from Rajesh Khanna. Such chiffony memories really.
Star sign and tarot card readers become close friends and consultants of some of the Bollywood upper crust. Like Sunita Menon who is on chummy terms with Ekta Kapoor, Karan Johar, Urmila Matondkar and designer Manish Malhotra. She’ll tell you to sign a cheque at an upward incline if you want your finances to ascend. Tried that myself, hasn’t worked so far.
An entire cottage industry of numerologists advise spelling alterations. “Sunjay” Dutt became “Sanjay Dutt” when he was about as popular as an umbrella in scorching summer. “Vivek” Oberoi became “Viveik” Oberoi for a while — not much change there really, except for marriage. Sunil Shetty signs his first name as “Suniel”... ummm, no comments. Jimmy Shergill is Sheirgill. And hello even movie titles could drive a spell check to paralysis. Notable example: Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap. Extra b and extra d just consume more poster space, doesn’t it?
Rakesh Roshan is conjoined to the letter “K” right down from Khudgarz, Kaam Chor, Koi Mil Gaya and Kites to Krrish 3. His father-in-law J. Om Prakash was “Aa”-friendly which accounted for the successes of Aaya Saawan Jhoom Ke, Aan Milo Sajna and Aasha. Aakraman did not end up in the A-list though. Karan Johar gave up his K “fixation” after Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Er but see what happened to Kurbaan and We are Family. Redeemingly My Name is Khan “klicked” big-time.
Television csarina Ektaa Kapoor has also long nurtured a “K” fixation with a line-up of TV serials, like Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Her dad Jeetendra believed in the magic of the letter “J”, for which he gave up the name on his birth certificate Ravindra Kapoor. Son Tusshar does not use his surname Kapoor since his father has advised him that just the first name in a film’s credit titles brings big-time fortune. Huh? Has it? Never mind.
Akshay Kumar doesn’t write a single word on a blank page before headlining it with an “Om” sign. Both Preity Zinta and Sonam Kapoor insist that whenever they stumble or fall on the studio sets of a movie, it becomes a whopper hit.
Kunal Kapoor always leaves a meal unfinished. Reason: it is not lucky to finish every morsel on a plate. Dia Mirza will not cut her fingernails a day before she is to report for a film shooting, which is very infrequent anyway nowadays. Riya Sen will not cross a road for an hour and a minute if a black cat has crossed her path.
On the advice of his family’s spiritual guru, Mithun Chakraborty had quit Mumbai to reside in the hilltown of Ooty. The change of weather worked.
And studio chatter is that Govinda doesn’t want anyone to wear a “red” shirt on the sets, because the colour may bring misfortune. Plus, only home-cooked meals will do during shoots. Yesteryear’s bindaas Hero No. 1, is supposedly wary that his rivals could poison him.
Ajay Devgn obtains a go-ahead from his family pundit before initiating a film production under his banner, buying a car or jetting off for a holiday. During a phase when she was undergoing various health problems, Kajol Devgn wore a copper bracelet on her arm. Apparently, the bracelet brought relief.
More: a film unit is asking for trouble if even a single shot is taken at a certain location in Mumbai’s Film City. The location is a deep valley where the monster of all flops, Roop ki Raani Choron ka Raja, was shot way back in 1993. By contrast, an ancient gnarled tree in Ooty guarantees success ever since Madhuri Dixit danced around it for the film Dil (1990).
Most films advertised on hoarding site facing Juhu beach have crash-banged. And so superstitions and anxieties persist, fingers and toes crossed.