‘Piku’ Effect

Bachchan with a bloated stomach in Piku

All of Mumbai could be complaining of a murderous heat wave, but we aren't giving up yet. We still meet every morning for the exercises. The level of humidity has however, taken a toll on attendance. We are no more than a dozen-odd these days. To make matters worse, there is not a drop of drinking water in the Garden. Even Mallika Kagzi has stopped coming with her two bottles of water. Or else, we could be assured of an occasional gulp to keep ourselves going.
But there is funny side also to our misery.

Dilip Babani

Turns out that most of the absentees are down with upset stomachs (which isn’t really unusual during summer months). Yet, the story going around is that ever since Yusuf Rassiwala treated them to a complimentary show of the movie, Piku (ref post of May 23), they have all contracted Amitabh Bachchan’s famous ‘potty problem’.
So contagious has the movie been that even watching from a distance was enough for the germs to travel from the lighted screen and selectively attack Big Laaf members in the darkness of the auditorium. Till then, they were all hale and hearty (sorry, no names here as they are mostly ladies), ordinarily not given to stomach ailments. Only after watching Piku last Sunday are they all reporting sick.

Making merry when the sun shines

For that matter, even Yusuf has stopped coming to the Garden. And Shekhawat, who has not watched Piku yet, just refuses to go anywhere close to a movie hall – even as Dilip Babani has offered to buy him tickets online and have them delivered at his doorstep. Shekhawat doesn’t want to spend the rest of the summer in a toilet.
The Piku effect does not end there. The central character’s dialogue delivery with a strong (and deliberate) Bengali accent – words like ‘eujeless’, ‘phorchunately’, ‘bhaarjin’, ‘shattisphactorily’, etc.) – has become a recurring joke in the Club. The upshot of this is the mounting suspicion that Siba Prasad Maitra must have secretly coached Amitabh for the film, especially on the Hindi lines. Dilip is actually convinced about it, because, as he points out, nobody can say “Hum aapnaa naangaa paaon kobhi nehi dikhayegaa’ the way Maitra says. In fact, Dilip is determined to address Maitra as ‘Mister Bhashkor Banarji' now!
Jagmohan Papneja:
For members who attend the laughter session regularly, Piku has had no effect. Because the benefits of laughter on the body are amazing. It helps improve digestion. As a result such members function better and waste is discharged more readily from their bodies. So I request everyone to be regular in attending the Club and eliminate not only the Piku but other bad effects as well.
Siba Prasad Maitra:
Yes, I was specially hired to guide Mr Bachchan with the Bengali accent -- even as his wife is Bengali and he had started his career in Bengal. How Dilip-bhai had got to know, I don't know. However, I will be very happy to coach our Big Laaf members on the similar Bengali accent. If anyone is interested, please contact me personally. But the subject will be different and not constipation. This has already been patented by Mr Bachchan in Piku.