It’s tough to slot him in categories or anticipate his career moves. Amitabh Bachchan, the phenomenon that he is, continues to reinvent himself
Here’s one who needs innumerable adjectives and a study in hyperbole to describe his life and career. While countless dialogues that he has mouthed in his baritone have become legendary, several have stuck to his personality. A case in point: Hum jahaan khade hote hain, line wahin se shuru ho jaati hai from the movie Kaalia.
If there ever was a live example for the word “phenomenon”, Amitabh Bachchan would be it. Can you think of any other actor who makes stars three to four decades younger than him, fade away in comparison? Or any other septuagenarian, who hungrily snaps up four to five releases a year, when other younger actors have to be content with a couple of wraps? The superstar of the millennium, as reported by the BBC, has the energy to support several causes and endorse myriad products, host game shows and appear tirelessly for film promotions. His blogs, Twitter handle and Facebook profile “likes” are used to show social networking trends and his posts and posted photos make news! And it is this living legend, this man who gave swagger a whole new meaning, who starts the interview with a warm namaste. Good he spoke first, or this hopelessly star-struck writer would have stayed tongue-tied.
I’m curious about how he challenges every norm that there is about acting one’s age, and what keeps him going. His answer is as disarming as it is humble. He gives all the credit to his fans: “When I see fans — the way they come to me, crowd around my house every Sunday, I feel as though I owe them something.” He candidly confesses to moments of nervousness, too, “Any challenge to my limited ability as an actor does get me anxious. But I feel it is a good thing. This is a better way to address one’s insecurities and enhance creativity rather than allowing them to weigh you down.”
It is, perhaps, this attitude — borrowing a verse from his father’s poem — “Mann ka ho to achcha, na ho to aur bhi achcha” — that makes him Big B. Unmindful of all criticism — trying too hard, choosing gimmicky roles or acting bizarre, selling his name for peddling products — Bachchan refuses to slow down. “I thank God for every blessing. I have seen the lows of life and am insecure about losing it all one day,” he confesses.
“In the film industry, when you are past a certain age, you’re not going to get the leading role. And therefore, there are character roles. You can decide whether you opt for the character role category or not. I want to continue working, and I’m happy doing character roles,” adds the actor who carved another niche hitherto unknown of in Hindi cinema — that of the mature leading man. And much like whatever he did, these character roles were unconventional, too. Some have even been outrageous, to the extent of being bizarre. But Bachchan pulled off Paa, Aladin, Cheeni Kum and several others without any reference.
Where there were praises, however, there was criticism, too. But Bachchan feels he is past the age of keeping up appearances. “Sometimes you do tend to repeat what has worked or has been appreciated. But at 72, you can’t look at some kind of image that you have to maintain. I am doing what I enjoy and that makes me happy and blessed,” quips the superstar, adding, how he’s at a stage where the responsibility of being the leading man, or for a film to be successful, is not on his shoulders. "So I would like to do whatever comes my way — in that sense, yes, I am getting younger and taking risks (laughs). Okay, people didn’t like some of my films such as Nishabd or Aladin or Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag and trashed it. But I am fine with that. I didn’t mind doing those roles because they tested my creativity and I enjoyed doing them.”
Criticism has been part of Bachchan’s life, but overlooking it has become a habit for the man. After all, wasn’t he criticised for being too tall, for his baritone (even rejected by Ameen Sayani in a radio audition!)? Even his wife Jaya was extremely critical of the chartbuster song Mere Angne Mein from Laawaris. “Well, Jaya was repulsed by that song. She saw the rushes and unmindful of who was present there, she burst out saying, ‘How can you do this? How can you be so crass?’.” Jaya has not seen the film till date. According to Amitabh, Shweta and Abhishek, his children, are his severest critics. They analyse everything — from his appearance to his dance moves — whenever his film releases.
The strongest criticism from the family came before he agreed to be on TV for the first time. “My family was apprehensive about TV. Jaya thought it would reduce the canvas and that it was below me. Shweta kept telling me she was with me, but I had to be really sure. Everyone said I was reducing myself from 70mm to 25 inches. But I was at a stage in my life where I wasn’t doing much. My work was not being appreciated. My films were not doing well. I just looked at it as another opportunity,” says the actor. Bachchan was taken to England to see a recording of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire with Chris Tarrant, who was filming the show at the BBC’s legendary Elstree Studios. Once Bachchan said yes, there was no looking back.
Fourteen years after his TV debut, this BBC’s Superstar Of The Millennium considers himself a novice in the medium. “To be honest, I am still learning the medium,” he says, and made his TV fiction debut this year, in Yudh. The series, launched on July 14, boasts of many firsts: Bachchan stars in his first TV fiction series; Anurag Kashyap and Shoojit Sircar team up as the creative director and the creative consultant, respectively, for a TV show; and it features heavyweights such as Tigmanshu Dhulia, Kay Kay Menon, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Zakir Hussain and Sarika, some making their television debut with the show. “I liked the story idea,” Bachchan stresses. “I liked the character and its complicated bearings and I liked the idea of doing something in a serial form for television,” he says.
It is not just films and TV where the consummate performer occupies a pole position. Bachchan has conquered the world of advertising as well. Ironically, the actor who refused to endorse any products at the peak of his career, lends his charismatic persona to a wide range of products — from cellular phones and soft drinks to pens, cars and financial schemes. Taking home nearly Rs 200 million, Bachchan endorses global products, too. But it is not just the money that the megastar is concerned with. As he puts it, “I do a lot of thinking before I take up a brand. I don’t have an agent who facilitates this work for me. I make my own judgement by meeting the client personally, seeing their accounts and audits. They need to convince me why I must endorse their product.”
Having Amitabh Bachchan as an ambassador gets these brands noticed since the man’s popularity crosses boundaries — be it demographic, psychographic or geographic. He commands respect across the length and breadth of India, cutting across the barriers of age, income, region and language. Small wonder then, that even as a superhero, he came out trumps with children. Yes, even before the Krrishes and Ra.Ones, India had its own superhero. A comic book series about superhero Amitabh, based on the star’s life, was published in the mid-1980s. The story was later developed into a full-fledged film Toofan. He played himself in the comic series, and was also Supremo — a savior to those in trouble — who wore skin-tight beet-red costume and welding glasses to hide his original identity; the first page of the comic carried a personal handwritten request from Big B, requesting all his fans to keep his identity a secret.
Supremo didn’t have superpowers but what he did have is strength and conviction to overcome situations and adversaries — in that sense, he was real. Credit also goes to the writer of the series — Gulzar. The pages were peppered with throwbacks to characters from Bachchan’s movies. For instance, Supremo’s two helpers — Vijay and Anthony — were named after his on-screen characters. He also had a pet Dolphin called Sonali and a falcon scout Shaheen, inspired by the bird in his superhit movie, Coolie.
Despite its popularity, however, the comic series lasted only two years. “I was lucky the makers approached me with this concept. I have come across several fans who are grown-up adults now, but recollect with glee the comics and sometimes bring it to show me. It helped me make a lot of young friends,” says Bachchan. The Supremo avatar inspired his film role in Ajooba.
It is this comfort with people of all age-groups that makes his movie releases a highly anticipated event in India. His next in line will be Do (tentatively titled) with Farhan Akhtar, and R Balki’s Shamitabh (in which he stars with Rekha after 33 years). “I am blessed that these intelligent minds consider me worthy of their films and instil in me the will to keep working,” says the actor.
Bachchan’s humility is deeply entrenched in the lessons he has learnt from life when the going got tough. Imagine quitting an executive’s job in Kolkata that paid a four-figure (quite princely in those days) salary, having a car and a house, to sleeping on a bench. Much later, when everything seemed to be getting only better, Bachchan’s finances tumbled with his company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL) got into serious financial trouble. His homes were attached by lenders who once clamoured to lend to his company, and his bank account was down to a pittance. He survived the emotional turmoil, much like he survived the infamous accident on the sets of Coolie, when Bachchan was declared clinically dead for a couple of minutes before reviving.
After the ups and downs, Bachchan is aware of the fickle nature of kismet. “There is always this apprehension and anxiety that I may lose everything, simply because nothing is permanent. I think the eventuality of that should never be forgotten. There is always going to be a risk. When you are aware of it and realise that it could happen at the drop of a hat, it drives you to not get into that situation again,” he feels.
This philosophy reflects in Bachchan’s blogs as well. This is another habit that the superstar diligently adheres to — of writing a blog entry every day. His take on life reflects in his post written on the eve of his birthday: “Struggles and uncertainties, successes and disappointments, accusations and controversies, ill health and months in hospital, all such a vivid kaleidoscope of moments, events, images simply unbelievable and unimaginable...”.
Like I said, a life well-lived and worth fighting for. And Bachchan is doing all that and more.