Guess who got a letter and bouquet from Amitabh Bachchan, once again?

Bollywood is full of trends and traditions that start off as gestures but end up being remarkable traditions in the Hindi Film Industry.

Be it Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar’s Holi party, the #AskSRK sessions by Shah Rukh Khan on Twitter, or the Sunday gatherings outside Salman Khan’s and Amitabh Bachchan’s residences, these traditions, private or public, tell us how strongly connected Bollywood is, in itself or to the fans.

One such tradition, off late, has stemmed from the humble nature of megastar Amitabh Bachchan. Whenever Big B finds a performance appealing, he writes a letter to the actor and sends him or her bouquets.

Getting appreciation from none other than someone who is an institution of acting in himself is surely something to be proud of, which is why the whole young brigade of Bollywood secretly aspires to get this letter from Mr. Bachchan.

While in the past we have seen Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana and Richa Chadha getting such letters, it was the turn of Kangna Ranaut, who is busy collecting rave reviews for her performance as both Tanu and Datto in the recent release Tanu Weds Manu Returns.

What makes her even happier is that this is not the first time that Kangna has received this appreciation letter from Mr. Bachchan. She had got one for the 2014 movie Queen as well, in which her performance also earned her a National Award.

In a candid chat with the Times of India, the actress shared her delight of getting not one but two letters and bouquets this time, for playing both Tanu and Datto. Below is an excerpt from the interview: "Mr Bachchan sent me a letter for Queen too, but that was written in English and that too, the level of English that he himself speaks, which is high end. This time, he has written a poem and that too in Hindi, so I could read it out as is to my parents as they understand only Hindi. I felt like his two letters were my two medals. I am going to frame these and keep them for life as my memory. For my parents who are not artistes and don't understand performance, this is their proof that I have performed. Mr Bachchan has written about the minutest of details of my performance which makes it so fulfilling for an artiste, coming from a legend like him. This time he has sent me not just one, but two letters and bouquets, one for Tanu and the other for Datto. He wrote, 'It happens very rarely that our eyes fill up watching a performance. You made me cry'. He said for Datto, 'For the girl who is Tanu's lookalike called Datto, I don't know her but please extend my warm wishes to her.' What broke me down reading his letters was when he wrote, 'Main apne aap ko bhagyashali samajhta hoon, ki main uss udyog se juda hoon, jisme Kangana basti hai' (I feel fortunate to be a part of an industry in which Kangana is a part). Being an outsider, I was ridiculed for the longest time with people openly making fun of me. But the flowers Mr Bachchan sent have not just filled up my room, they have left me overwhelmed."

Well, all we can say is that the other actors from the young brigade need to pull up their socks if they want to have this appreciation letter from Mr. Bachchan, who is an idol for many.

Image courtesy Indiatimes