Bachchans eyeing summer home in Aldona?
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, APRIL 20
The quiet village of Aldona is slowly turning into a popular destination
for high-profile personalities that include actors, writers and models.
And, the latest buzz that has excited residents is the possibility that
the village could have Bollywood’s most famous couple – Aishwarya and
Abhishek Bachchan – as its new residents.
Aldona is already home to popular fashion model Ujwala Raut and
award-winning author Amitav Ghosh, as they own houses in the village.
A few days ago, Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan had reportedly visited
Aldona to look out for a house and the news spread like wildfire in the
village as well as in cyberspace.
“It is believed that Bollywood’s glam couple, Aishwarya and Abhishek
Bachchan, are house hunting in Goa, and they have zeroed in on Aldona
where a bungalow belonging to a Kashmiri has caught the family’s eye.
It’s of Portuguese architecture and has a swimming pool attached,” was a
message posted on the Aldona-net groups by humour writer Cecil Pinto,
who hails from Aldona.
“Amitabh and Abhishek, who is shooting in Canacona for Dum Maro Dum,
went around the house last week. Abhishek is understood to have fallen
in love with Goa after working on his second film there and would be
keen to have a summer home in the picturesque State,” Pinto added.
While some excited residents claimed to have spotted the Bachchans,
others already began speculating on the money that would be trading
hands for the house in the village
Incidentally, Bollywood star Nana Patekar also has plans to settle down
in Aldona.
“I have decided to settle down in Aldona because of the serene and quiet
atmosphere of the village and the good people residing there. I will be
happy to reside in the village if the people accept me as an
‘Aldonkar’,” said Patekar in November 2009, while addressing a gathering
at the Shri Ganesh Sadashiv Narvekar Smruti Sangeet Sammelan in the
premises of Bhagvati temple, Aldona.
However, some have already begun to raise concerns over the impact on
the village, with the possible arrival of the Bachchans and other famous
personalities in Aldona.
“Unfortunately, the Bachchans are very particular about privacy which
means high walls around the bungalow as in their Juhu homes. It will
also mean large crowds around the area hanging around for a look at them
when the news goes out that one of them is in. This creates traffic
problems in Juhu. In Bandra, if Salman is on the road or at home, the
streets are totally clogged with people in a variety of vehicles hoping
for a view of him, and large crowds around his home hoping to see him
and have him wave at them.
God Bless the people of Aldona,” stated Louise Fernandez, in another
post on Aldona-net.
“Time to move” was a query raised by a resident, Vidyadhar Gadgil, while
another poster Patrick de Souza was also circumspect in his post: “There
goes the neighbourhood.”
http://www.oheraldo.in/news/Local%20News/Bachchans-eyeing-summer-home-in-Aldona/36045.html
COMMENTS: Speaking of high walls, as soon as Akshay Kumar bought and
occupied the house opposite mine, neighbors as well as outsiders began
to flock at the place to have a glimpse of the actor and his wife,
Twinkle Khanna. So, he immediately raised the compound wall all around
to a height of eleven feet and placed broken glass pieces on its top -
an old method to prevent mischievous people from climbing the compound
wall and jumping inside the property!
Akshay Kumar and his family don't live in the house but use it as a rest
place whenever they are in Goa shooting for a movie. Obviously, they
need their privacy; hence, they don't entertain any visitors/guests in
their home. A local boy looks after the house, and a guard mans the main
gate.
Right now, its difficult for people passing by the place to tell if
there is a bungalow inside the compound wall, which reminds me of the
high compound walls around the homes of Arabs in the Gulf, which are
built to prevent men from looking at their women!
Moi-mogan,
Domnic Fernandes
Anjuna, Goa
Mob: 9420979201
