WORD POWER
Bollywood dreams!
Prerana Trehan

My big mouth has always got me into big-time trouble. Take what happened yesterday, for example. I have always thought big and have never had any doubt that I have what it takes to make it big in Bollywood. However, I do have to admit that my plans to join the film industry have never been a big hit with my parents who feel that movies are really no big deal.

I had made a name for myself as a successful stage artiste in the small town where I lived, although my parents often warned me that I was just a big fish in a small pond. Yesterday I found out that I had landed a small role in a role in a movie by Karan Johar, a big name in the film industry. Movies are big business and I thought that that was my chance to hit the big time. I was overjoyed, and guess what was the first thing I did? I went and told my parents. If I had thought that they would give me a big hand, I was in for disappointment. As it is my mother thinks that I make a big thing out of my looks which, she thinks, has made me too big-headed. When she found out that I had got a role, she feared that I would become too big for my boots. And my father thought all my plans were just big talk.

Well, of course, I am not going into the movies. I can’t help thinking that I have missed my chance to be in the big league, and for someone like me who has always been big on movies, the disappointment is difficult to take.

Big mouth: if someone is or has a big mouth, they tend to say things which are meant to be kept secret

Big time: very much

Think big: to have big plans and ideas and be keen to achieve a lot

Make it big: if someone makes it big, they become famous or successful

Big hit: someone or something very popular with others

No big deal: if you say something is no big deal, you do not think that it is important or special

A big fish in a small pond: one of the most important people in a small group or organisation, who would have much less power or importance if they were part of a bigger group or organisation

Big name: a famous or important person

Big business: if something is big business, it makes a lot of money

Hit the big time: be making a lot of money in business, often in the entertainment business; become famous

Give someone a big hand: applaud someone with enthusiasm

To make a big thing (out) of something: to behave as if something is very important

Big-headed: someone who believes that they are very clever or very good at an activity and who thinks that other people should admire them

Too big for one’s boots: arrogant, conceited, feeling and acting in a superior way

Big talk: boastful, empty talk

Big league: the top level of a particular sport, business or activity, in which there is the greatest competition and the greatest opportunity for success

Be big on something: to be very interested in something and think that it is important

(Reference: Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)