Amitabh Bachchan At 83 | The Tireless And Peerless Titan

When my dad finally gave in to our pleas and brought a VCR home, the unwritten rule was that movies would be played only during weekends. But it wasn’t long before I was rushing through my homework and dinner so mom and I could catch a movie in installments on weeknights too. When dad would enter the living room scowling darkly, we would hurriedly interject, “It’s only one of Amitabh Bachchan’s old films” and nodding approvingly, he would join us to watch one of his favourites again.  

So, I grew up, believing Big B to be not just my ‘Open Sesame’ to a cave of celluloid treasures, but also the blockbuster hero whose films you could watch again and again. It was only after I became a journalist that I learnt that the actor, whom French director Francois Truffaut had once described as a “one-man industry”, had started his career with a string of flops.

Pyar Ki Kahani (1971), Ek Nazar (1972), Bansi Birju (1972), Raaste Kaa Patthar (1972), Bandhe Haath (1973)—these are films not many remember today from that early phase of a career that has spanned over half a century. The exception was Anand (1971), where despite being pitted against the reigning superstar, Rajesh Khanna in an author-backed role, he managed to leave an impression as the dour, taciturn Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee. Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who wrote and directed the film, admitted during one of our many conversations that he had planned the film with Raj Kapoor as the protagonist dying of cancer and Mehmood as his doctor friend, a character evidently modelled on himself, with the film being an ode to RK and his dosti. But eventually, the idea of his friend dying, even if only on screen, was too painful to stomach, so he had instead opted for another RK.

Tall, lanky Bachchan caught his eye when he accompanied his mentor, director Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, to the ailing filmmaker’s Bandra bungalow. Lying in bed, listening to Abbas talking about the film he was making, Hrishikesh Mukherjee looked up at his Saat Hindustani (1969) actor and knew instinctively that the unsmiling young man with the intense gaze and brooding expression was his Babumoshai.

Having earlier cast Jaya Bhaduri, whom he had spotted at the FTII, opposite another superstar, Dharmendra, in Guddi (1971), Mukherjee undoubtedly had an eye for talent. But there were others too who—despite his dismal track record—were ready to back Bachchan, one of them being Prakash Mehra. After losing out on Dharmendra, Dev Anand and Raaj Kumar, the filmmaker, impressed with the way he stood up to Shatrughan Sinha in Bombay to Goa (1972), cast Bachchan as the fiery cop, Inspector Vijay Khanna, in his debut production Zanjeer (1973) with Jaya opposite him as the Chappan Churiwali.

Suneel Darshan, whose father Darshan Sabharwal distributed Zanjeer, met Bachchan for the first time at Farida Jalal’s party just before the release of the 1973 action drama. He confides in my book, Matinee Men—A Journey Through Bollywood (2020), that the actor looked anxious, but Darshan, who was only 13 then, shared his father’s confidence that Zanjeer would do well, pointing out that even in his first film, Saat Hindustani, which again his father had distributed, Bachchan had stood out in a crowd of six heroes. He was right. The film was the first of the actor’s many solo blockbusters. Coming at a time when there was a rebellion simmering within the common man against the system, he became Hindi cinema’s quintessential ‘angry young man’ who dared to go against the law to rein in the unlawful.

Almost three decades later, Darshan directed Bachchan in Ek Rishtaa—The Bond of Love, a 2001 family drama based on a story he had written, which he also produced. The film came during what is termed his ‘second innings’—the superstar returning in 1997 from a self-imposed, five-year exile with Mrityudaata. Over the next few years, he made the transition from lead roles to strong supporting roles, playing the bade bhai (big brother), the estranged father and the authoritarian school principal with his characteristic swag and panache.

He filmed Ek Rishtaa and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) simultaneously and Darshan recalls that he would usually shoot for Karan Johar from 9 AM to 6 PM and report for his film around 7 PM, continuing till 2 in the morning. During this hectic spell, he was always punctual, with one exception. “He arrived an hour-and-a-half late for a 9 AM shoot with Akshay Kumar at Hiranandani Garden. No one was unduly perturbed by the delay, but as soon as he drove up, Mr. Bachchan called me and apologised, informing me that his parents (Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan) were very old and terribly unwell. He had been up all night with the doctor tending to them. My respect for him increased even more after hearing this,” Suneel recalls.

Most actors would have been happy to end their careers with a successful second innings, but Bachchan is not just another actor.  As we stepped into a new century, he stepped into our living rooms with Kaun Banega Crorepati which, 25 years later, is still going strong with him as its host. Recently, when I was discussing this with KBC writer R.D. Tailang, he shared that on the set, the audience sits quietly and uncomplainingly for six hours, many of them going home without taking the fabled ‘Hot Seat’ all thanks to him. “Even the ones who get to contest sometimes return home with a cheque that has far less zeroes than what they had hoped for, but being on KBC still remains a life-changing experience for them because he treats every one of them with the courtesy that he would accord a guest visiting his home. If he is even five minutes late, he will not blame it on his busy schedule or the traffic, but will probably say that the bhojan (food) at home was particularly delicious with the result that he ate a little more than usual and fell asleep, his excuse making him one of them rather than a larger-than-life superstar,” explains Tailang, who has given Bachchan much-quoted lines like “Lock kiya jaye” and made “Computer ji”, “Ghadi Babu” and “Shrimati Tiktiki” a part of our vocabulary.

The writer remembers that during their first meeting at the Star Plus office in Mumbai’s ‘The Masterpiece’ building, where they had set up a makeshift studio in the basement, Bachchan left him speechless when they were introduced, by asking him if he liked what he had seen and had any suggestions for him. “Down the decades, I have seen him pose the very same question to new members of the team, even interns, with the same touching humility, which is so rare for such a towering personality. Even with his years of experience, Mr Bachchan still comes to a set not as a know-all but as a first-time student,” he shares.   

Tailang goes on to narrate that he had been writing for another hit show, Movers & Shakers, before joining the KBC team, and was used to its host, Shekhar Suman, quietly rectifying any small mistakes he might have made. “So, the first couple of times when Mr Bachchan pointed out that the comma was missing or I had forgotten to put a full stop, I simply shrugged them off as an oversight. The third time it happened, he quietly told me. ‘Aap galtiyan sudhar sakte hain, but when instead of rectifying them you keep repeating these mistakes, they become a habit which is hard to break.’ That one sentence changed my life and my attitude to work,” the writer admits.

He points out that it is because Bachchan is so meticulous, dedicated and tireless that even on his 83^rd birthday, instead of just discussing a legend, we are talking of an actor who, even now, is perhaps filming the next episode of KBC or facing the camera for an upcoming film. 

Roshmila Bhattacharya is a senior journalist and the author of four books on cinema.