When one is writing about Amitabh Bachchan it indeed is an existentialist dilemma what to add as a form of content, as so much information about him is available in all forms of content and the dilemma is further accentuated when Amitabh Bachchan chips in with his own content on a rather regular basis through all the available platforms of social media. But as they say, where there is a will to share an information, the writer indeed finds ways. The cue for this story arose from Sidharth Bhatia’s book on Manmohan Desai, titled, AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY which is replete with interesting bit of information about Amitabh Bachchan and the kind of relationship that he shared with Manmohan Desai.
How many of us would be aware even about the fact that Manmohan Desai had commented on Amitabh Bachchan that this six-footer would go nowhere, but after AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY Manmohan Desai did not make a film without Amitabh Bachchan. (The Outlier)
The non-sensical verse that Amitabh Bachchan had sung-in the prelude and interlude of the song – My name is Anthony Gonsalves – indeed was a trait of his character, he used to recite this intermittently sitting alone, Manmohan Desai overheard it and he asked Amitabh Bachchan to develop it and include it as the part of the song, and it is probably for the first and the last time that such kind of staccato firing rap was heard on the silver screen, as no other star has been able to emulate this feat thenceforth.
Sidharth Bhatia also informs in the book that the famous mirror act that Amitabh Bachchan had done was not shot by Manmohan Desai. Manmohan Desai was simultaneously shooting 4 films when AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY was made, they being PARVARISH, CHACHA BHATEEJA and DHARAMVEER. This shot was done by Amitabh Bachchan in a single take involving the cameraman, Peter Pereira. During those days’ rushes could be seen only after 21 days. When Manmohan Desai wanted to shoot this sequence, he was informed by Amitabh Bachchan and Pereira that they had already shot the sequence. When Desai saw the rushes, he wept and announced that henceforth he would not make a film without Amitabh Bachchan.
Comedian pushed to periphery:
It was after AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY that the role of eminence that a comedian had in Hindi films was pushed to the periphery as Amitabh Bachchan and Manmohan Desai created a new template of performance where now the hero would enact the scenes of comedy as well. It was AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY that created this template for Hindi cinema, and it was followed by most of the actors who wanted to make their mark in Hindi cinema. Amitabh Bachchan who till then, was more of an angry young man, added another facet to his repertoire of being an actor who could enact comedy with a flourish that was not experimented with hitherto.
Hero being bashed up on the screen:
It was also owing to the wonderful chemistry that they developed during the making of AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY that Amitabh Bachchan condescended to be bashed up twice in the film first by Vinod Khanna and second time by Zebisco. Perhaps never in the history of cinema had this happened, and it is more so creditable as during those times Amitabh Bachchan was at the top of his career, and as a matter of convention top actors were never bashed up on screen, after all they had a larger-than-life image. But it is to the credit of Amitabh Bachchan that he has never interfered with script, and this is the reason why he continues to endure the audience as also the filmmakers even to this day.
Art of English speaking – Bachchan way:
Command of a language has been one of the primary requisites to establish a benchmark and communicate with the audience. Amitabh Bachchan who celebrated his 80th birthday would be the last of the generation from Hindi cinema in all probability who has equal eloquence and command both over English and Hindi.
Through KBC Amitabh Bachchan has done a yeomen service in creating interest in Hindi language especially among the small children. I found that my son was speaking some words in Hindi which children do not speak and he was inquiring about their meaning as well. I asked him from where he picked it up, and he said it was KBC uncle. The celebration of his 80th birthday on the sets of KBC by Abhishek Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan was a monumental tribute to Amitabh Bachchan who resuscitated himself through KBC.
Amitabh Bachchan is the only actor who speaks English with the same eloquence, and he is the only star in the world of entertainment from the country who could bring out the apparent contradiction manifest in the English language through that famous monologue that he had with Ranjeet in NAMAKHALAAL- I can speak English, I can walk English…
As a matter of fact the first sign of his ability to play with the language was revealed to his fans in the comic caper CHUPKE CHUPKE, where he was teaching English to Jaya Bachchan and the distinction between Calyx and Corolla was pointer to his command over both the languages. Amitabh Bachchan was also the first actor in all probability who did the first rap for Hindi cinema, which was a heady concoction of colloquial Hindi terms, when he sang- EER BEER PHATTE. Subsequently he took it to a further higher level through the title song of BUNTY AUR BABLI which was a funny mixture of English and Hindi, and it was his dexterity in both the languages whereby he could pull off this rap.
Amitabh Bachchan and his chemistry with children:
With a career spanning more than five decades, one of the striking characteristics of Amitabh Bachchan has been his amazing equation with the children. Wherever children have been a part of his cinematic oeuvre, the film has received wide acceptance with the children. This feature of his performance became manifest for the first time in all probability with FARAR and from here onwards children played an important role in most of the films in which Amitabh Bachchan acted. DO ANJAANE was a fantastic film that traced the relationship between a father and a son, and the amazing chemistry that Amitabh Bachchan displayed with his on-screen son was one of the highlights of the film. This genre was therefore exercised to its full potential in DO AUR DO PAANCH and the songs of the film continue to be a part of annual day celebrations in various schools. YAARANA was another major landmark in Amitabh Bachchan’s performance with reference to the amazing chemistry with the children. The song from the film- Bhole o Bhole the slower version underlined the love that Amitabh Bachchan has for children. YAARANA was followed with KAALIA where he had his whole gang of marble playing kids and he used to have ball with them in the film. ANDHA KANOON was another milestone in his career, as far as developing the chemistry with the children was concerned, and the song, Rote Rote Hasna Seekho from the film, still is one of the favourite lullabies that children love to listen to. HUM explored probably the relationship that was left unexplored in ANDHA KANOON on a much wider scale and as an affectionate patriarch of the family, the little girl could wrap Amitabh Bachchan on to his fingers in the film. BABUL was another film wherein the role of a grandfather nurturing a grandson Amitabh Bachchan had given an exquisite performance. As Abhishek Bachchan underlined on the sets of KBC as also Jaya Bachchan that for Amitabh Bachchan family always has precedence before anything else and it is the value that he has imbibed in his children and all his near and dear ones.
Amitabh Bachchan and characters with ailments:
It is also one of the interesting facts of the oeuvre of Amitabh Bachchan that whenever he has been in a situation where an ailment plays an important binding role as the narrative of the film, it has hit bulls’ eye. The saga of success associated with ailments in fact began with ANAND where though Amitabh Bachchan did not play a character inflicted with an incurable disease, but he had a friend having an incurable disease. The death of Rajesh Khanna in the film and the monologue that Amitabh Bachchan entered into with dead Rajesh Khanna announced to the world that a new star has arisen. It was subsequently followed by MILI where the mysterious disease of Jaya Bachchan had an element of enigma associated with it and the last few minutes of the film turned out to be its most charming moments and it is what made MILI one of the enduring films in his career. The conviction in enactment of such roles could also be owing to the personal pains that he has been besotted with in his life which finds expression in the characters that he enacts through the films.
The flip side of this journey in his career has been that there only was one film where he played the character that carries a physical ailment, but it could not strike a chord with the audience as it happened with KABHIE ALVIDA NA KEHNA. Could it be owing to the fact that the ailment of heart condition that he was portraying is now a common disease and therefore the audience could not empathize with the character?
The notion gets strength from his subsequent film BLACK which again turned out to be one of the monumental films in his career where he played the role of a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and the conviction of being a sufferer of the disease was so much evident that it reemphasized the fact why Amitabh Bachchan is one of the greatest actors that Indian cinema has ever produced. The manner of conviction and sensitivity with which Amitabh Bachchan has portrayed the character of a child suffering from progeria in PAA has indeed pushed him to the pedestal as one of the all-time greats the world of cinema all could ever see.
The choice of diseases may be fortuitous in the journey of his career, but they were contemporary at the time when they made appearance and the element of rarity of the disease associated with the character could have been the instrumental factor in making the phenomenal performer that he is.
Freindship roles:
The advent of Amitabh Bachchan gave an action-oriented dimension to concept of friendship and its first successful symphony found echo with SHOLAY and the epiphany was DOSTANA, with intermediate growth tentacles in the form of SUHAAG, COOLIE, etc. In this phase a dimension was added to the concept of friendship where the friends during the course of films found out subsequently that they were in fact brothers, thereby underlining the point in a very subtle manner that two brothers can be good friends. The celebrated example of this kind included AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY, SUHAAG, RAM BALRAM, etc. During this journey the sacrificial kind of friendship variety also found expression through MUQUADDAR KA SIKANDER, which was a super hit movie, and it was for the first time where a character was laughing on death and seeing eyeballs with it. Otherwise, death has been a portrayal with lots of sadism associated with it. The template of friendship on the screen was baptised by fire through ANAND and NAMAKHARAM got a tinge of humour interspersed into it through CHUPKE CHUPKE and continued to reverberate through most of his films till he gave up on being the lead hero and turned to character roles.
Association with campaigns to spread awareness:
Pulse polio was a campaign that was floundering in a big way, till the time Amitabh Bachchan decided to add his weight and might to it, and pronto the campaign got a much needed shot in the arm. Amitabh Bachchan has arguably been one of the world’s most prominent faces to give his face and name to spread financial literacy awareness campaigns that he does with Reserve Bank of India, with panache during KBC as also otherwise.
For Amitabh Bachchan each day is a new day, a Nav Kal to begin a new chapter of life and celebrate it. Fight it out, never surrender. As a fan of cinema and as a fan of Amitabh Bachchan one only aspires that as we have moved into AMRITKAL (celebration of 100 years of Independence), Amitabh Bachchan would also be there to associate with this part of monumental journey of the country.