Actor Amitabh Bachchan talks about his experiences.
I have spent over 30 years in the Indian film industry and have worked with almost three generations of directors and actors. There was a time when life in the movies was very different. It was slower and everything seemed simpler. Now, there are so many things to be dealt with: the light needs to be right, the equipment needs to be returned, and actors have to be somewhere else. There also used to be a sense of magic about the movie industry and the stars were special. Now they are just one of a crowd.
However, in my experience, the new generation of film-makers take their work seriously and they are all very confident. Sometimes, when a young director is talking to me about a scene, I can see technical difficulties. For example, in the film “Aks” we needed wild dogs for a particular scene and I asked Rakesh Mehra how we would do that. He said it was not a problem. He found an address on the Internet and we shot the scene in Romania. More often, Rakesh is anxious about getting the actors’ dates right or sorting out the financial side.
Most of today’s young directors have trained in the United States. They have learnt how to plan their productions in great detail and they are extremely well prepared. Before filming starts, they have already made decisions about the costumes, make-up, camera angles and so on. For an actor it means there’s someone taking care of everything. It makes the filming go smoothly. I have little doubt that the future of our film industry is in very good hands.

“Reach Out!” is an organisation that runs week long summer camps, designed to give young people the skills to be the leaders of the future. The camps help to create confident young people who wish to improve not only themselves, but the world around them. Varying in age from 12 to 17, young people come to attend the camps in Canada and the USA from across the world. They spend their time learning leadership skills, considering and discussing important issues such as pollution and health, and helping in the local community. They also meet many other young people who have the same interests and beliefs and they frequently make friendships that will last a lifetime.
There is no average day at the camp and changes are made to the timetable, which is handed out daily, to allow room for exciting events as they come up. However, camp members generally get up at 7.30 a.m. and, once they’ve eaten breakfast, start their day with some outdoor games to get them warmed up for the busy day ahead. There are classroom workshops in the morning on skills such as public speaking, then there’s an hour for lunch at noon. From 1-2 p.m., camp members have the opportunity to select from various activities. In recent years these have included dancing, song writing, yoga and basketball.
During the members’ time at camp, there is a day known as Action Day. This is when small groups go out with an adult group leader to work with organisations in the neighbourhood. “Reach Out!” arranges the day several weeks before the actual event and matches the interests and skills of the camp members with organisations needing their help. This can involve organisations dealing with healthcare, housing, journalism or the environment, to name just a few.
Evenings are spent watching documentary films or listening to guest speakers. One of the speakers this year will be Helen Yates, who has worked on social projects around the world and who writes and sings her own songs about the social issues she is most concerned about. Helen has shared the stage with many of the world’s political and religious leaders and has many interesting stories to tell young audiences about them. Helen’s goal is to encourage the young people she meets to go out and make the world a better place.

I learned to ski when I was very small, because my parents took my brothers and me to ski with them almost as soon as we could walk. So when I started snowboarding at 11, I thought it would be easy. But on the first day of a family snowboarding holiday, I got on my new snowboard and went down a small hill – and immediately fell! I couldn’t stop, so if my brothers stopped in front of me, I made them fall too! They were brilliant because they showed me exactly what to do – but they laughed at me, too!
When I started to improve, my parents decided to take us further up the mountain on a ski lift. As we got higher, we could see right over the tops of the trees below. When we got off the lift, we all jumped onto our snowboards and went down the mountain – including me! And I was the first one of the family to get to the bottom!
My knees hurt a bit afterwards, but I was fine. I still think I like skiing better, but I’d certainly like to try snowboarding again!