Forty-five years in the industry, the well-deserved tag of the biggest star in Hindi cinema and an eventful career, which has been sharp in its highs and lows, is enough to be in a bit of awe of Amitabh Bachchan. Take into account his presence, charm, baritone and most-imitated inimitable style and he becomes a monolithic personality, who has earned every inch of his stardom and wears it with élan even today.
From the time he was rejected by All India Radio, to the time where he has now a temple in his name, the trajectory of a big life has usually been reduced to the ‘Angry Young Man’ superstar phase and the post-comeback superstar age. The much-told story of his rise, fall and resurrection is so exceptional that it is almost impossible to see the man behind.
Amitabh Bachchan at the peak of his stardom was a lion, huge on screen, huge off screen. The presence of his stardom was palpable in the love audiences showered on his performances as well as the clout his star power wielded in the industry. He was a one-man show that simply couldn’t fail. He was the common man and the superhero all at once.
At the height of his ‘angry young man’ phase when it seemed like he could do no wrong, one sees a spate of film choices all identical and clonish. The Bachchan before the 80s was far more of a performer, an actor, until he turned into a star caught in his own image. He stopped experimenting, relying on blockbuster formulaic material. It could have been a sign of changing times and survival instinct, but the man remained a lion in his personal power while surrendering to massy instincts in his professional sphere.
There is a story, an urban legend maybe but nevertheless worth telling. This was during the time ABCL went bankrupt and Amitabh Bachchcan was under crores of debt. He was travelling abroad and browsing at an airport store when he fancied a watch costing more than a few lakhs. Given his circumstances it was too lavish a spend. And then he made up his mind, if he was going down he would go down in style. He bought the watch.
This, to me is not a sign of arrogance, it is the sign of immense self-confidence of a down on luck superstar evolved enough to see the larger picture. And he did come back with a bang, the same accolades, the same love but the man was different this time. He was still immensely watchable on screen, owning anything he did, however ridiculous. But this was a redefined superstar. Whether this redefinition was conscious or not, no one can presume but he was using his star power differently, to carve a different niche. He began experimenting, in a way he never had before.
At the peak of his career, Amitabh Bachchan was a non-conformist in real life, played non-conformist characters but stayed conformist as an actor. After the comeback, he wore an older and wiser image of himself, letting go of the earlier baggage of lead hero stardom. He played his age (Baghban, Sarkar, Bunty aur Babli), played secondary characters (Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham), played the villain (RGV ki Aag), played controversial and experimental characters (Nishabd and Paa) even played a ghost twice! (Bhoothnath 1 & 2). Yet, in his personal life he becomes a conformist, it could be stemming from the disillusionment of a failed attempt at a political career, or the enormity of a hard-earned, hard-lost stardom earned back, but the brand Bachchan became a brand, playing safe at all times. Almost anxious of disturbing the status quo anymore.
Having said that, the fact that he continues to experiment at 73, every time giving us a different experience of him, overshadows all else, because irrespective of his failures, there is a certain joy and admiration in watching a man constantly engaged in re-inventing himself when he doesn’t really need to. May that hunger remain alive.
(Fatema Kagalwala is a 2nd year Film Editing student at FTII)
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