Age is just a number for Amitabh Bachchan

Dinesh Raheja

 Second acts are a rarity in the ruthless street theatre of Bollywood, where an attempted comeback often proves to be the comeuppance for the filmstar.

Amitabh Bachchan is that rare star who not only orchestrated a thumping return to centrestage after a voluntary five-year-long hiatus from the screen in the 1990s. He also managed to ride out a subsequent career slump (Mrityudaata, Lal Baadshah) and bounce back, smoothly navigating the hairpin bend from 'write-off' to 'right-on.'

As Amitabh greets his 60th birthday October 11, the buzz surrounding him still resounds. After proving to be the incomparable compere of television's Kaun Banega Crorepati he has also reasserted his position (with Mohabbatein, K3G, Ek Rishta and Aankhen), as one of the most bankable stars around.

A Karan Johar, Juhi Chawla or Manoj Bajpai still talk of the experience of working with him in reverential tones while a Gracy Singh flutters on about being exceedingly nervous when having to shoot with 'him' for Honey Irani's Armaan.

Bachchan's contemporaries like Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra (both born in the same year as Amitabh) and even younger stars like Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha and Rishi Kapoor may have long given up on the rat race. Amitabh is still in the front lines, shouldering mega films and charging a post-millennial salary.

However, this amazing reversal of fortunes is only the latest in a series for Amitabh.

The superstar has had a charmed existence when it comes to delivering blockbusters at the box-office, in earning unprecedented popularity and all but mapping the screen hero's identity in the 1970s and 1980s. But Amitabh's life and times are a catalogue of crises, and the actor's subsequent juggling of risks to affect an almost miraculous turnaround.

Possibly, his ability to never say die stems from the fact that Amitabh never had it easy. He did not have the molten looks of a matinee idol when he first entered the film industry in the late 60s. High gloss Shammi Kapoor musicals were the order of the day then. After leaving his cushy executive job in Kolkata, Amitabh came to Mumbai armed with a driver's license because as he says, "I could always run a taxi and earn a living."

Fortunately, the elder son of noted Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and former alumnus of the prestigious Sherwood School, Nainital, didn't have to do anything so drastic. He started off as a character actor in Anand (he was merry protagonist Rajesh Khanna's brooding friend), Saat Hindustani (he was one of the titular seven), Reshma Aur Shera (he muted the boom and essayed the role of a mute), and Parwana (he pre-dated the Khalnayak-Baazigar era and played an obsessive lover who commits a cold-blooded murder).

Landmark Films - The Early Years
Year	Film	Heroine
1971	Anand	Sumati Sanyal
1973	Zanjeer	Jaya Bhaduri
1973	Abhiman	Jaya Bhaduri
1973	Namak Haram	Simi Garewal

These character roles may not have turned Amitabh into a sensation but the good notices he got stood him in good stead, especially when his initial films as a hero didn't get off the ground. Son Abhishek who is facing a dry streak at the box-office can take consolation from the fact that even Amitabh's early films like Ek Nazar, Bansi Birju, Raaste Ka Patthar and Bandhe Haath flopped at the box-office.

But star girlfriend Jaya Bhaduri believed in Amitabh as did writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar who were instrumental in the actor bagging the role of a angry cop in Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer. When Zanjeer was released in Mumbai, May 11, 1973, it was a career-igniting performance for Amitabh who proved he could, with few lines but eloquent silences, illuminate the churning of his soul.

Amitabh's brooding personality helped further his screen image. After the through-the-roof success of his subsequent films like 1975's Deewar and Sholay, Hindi cinema saw the birth and the subsequent two-decade-long preponderance of a radical new hero -- laconic, intense and often violent.

The first major hiccup came in Amitabh's life when he had to counter a near-fatal accident while on the sets of Coolie. He was about to turn 40. But with a remarkable outpouring of public support he battled with a threatening disease like myasthenia gravis two years later and returned to films an even bigger star.

Landmark Films - The Superstar Era
Year	Film	Heroine
1975	Deewar	Parveen Babi
1975	Sholay	Jaya Bhaduri
1976	Kabhie Kabhie	Raakhee
1976	Hera Pheri	Saira Banu
1977	Amar Akbar Anthony	Parveen Babi
1977	Parvarish	Neetu Singh
1978	Don	Zeenat Aman
1978	Kasme Vaade	Raakhee
1978	Trishul	Raakhee
1978	Muqaddar Ka  Sikandar	Raakhee, Rekha
1979	Mr Natwarlal	Rekha
1979	Suhaag	Rekha
1980	Dostana	Zeenat Aman
1981	Naseeb	Hema Malini
1981	Lawaris	Zeenat Aman
1982	Namak Halal	Smita Patil
1983	Coolie	Rati Agnihotri
1984	Sharabi	Jayaprada
1985	Mard	Amrita Singh
1986	Aakhree Raasta	Sridevi
1988	Shahenshah	Meenakshi  Seshadri
1990	Aaj Ka Arjun	Jayaprada
1991	Hum	Kimi Katkar

Soon thereafter, a costly misstep into politics resulted in Amitabh having to recoup lost ground in filmdom as well as defend his reputation. Amitabh grimly cut his losses and continued with his life.

At 50, Amitabh was still a national figure of admiration when he shocked many by taking an unprecedented holiday from the screen after Khuda Gawah (1992); only to return in a new corporatised avatar, charging an unprecedented Rs 30 million and playing the hero in such insipid fare as Mrityudaata and Major Saab.

He then saw his ambitiously scaled but idealistically helmed Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited production house dream disintegrate, and was faced with a heap of debt. Amitabh doughtily battled on, bravely gambled with his image and signed on for a game show on television, a medium considered infra dig by many.

Hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati was seen as a sign of desperation, but it proved to be Amitabh's saving grace as his genial hot seat manner proved a big hit and sent his stock shooting skywards once again. Amitabh slogged it out in films and commercials and extricated himself from the financial hellhole. As always, adversity unleashed the fighting spirit in Amitabh.

While Amitabh had never broken free from the angry young man image which had alchemised him into a mega star in his salad days, he had also never kowtowed totally to commercial considerations. He married Jaya Bhaduri and started a family as soon as he was successful; he played a romantic old man (for most of the movie) role like Kabhi Kabhie at 34 and he consistently worked with middle-of-the-road director Hrishikesh Mukherji (through seven films from 1970 to 1982).

Amitabh did expand his oeuvre to include light comedy in Amar Akbar Anthony, Don, Laawaaris, 'items' as they are dubbed in filmdom.

But he was careful to never shatter the carapace of his image.

Today, a rejuvenated Amitabh seems to have finally allowed his experimental side free rein, perhaps because he is not shouldering the success of a film single-handedly anymore.

Landmark Films - The Golden Years
Year	Film	Heroine
1998	Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan	Ramya
2000	Mohabbatein
2001	Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham	Jaya Bachchan

It has unshackled him from pandering to expectations. Besides playing the petulant patriarch in Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar's films (Mohabbatein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham), Amitabh has recently done starkly etched negative roles in Aks, Aankhen and in the forthcoming Kaante.

He is also working with first-time woman director Honey Irani in Armaan and is dipping his toe in avante garde cinema too with Kaizad Gustrad's Boom.

The actor who starred in four straight disappointments in 1999 -- Lal Baadshah, Sooryavansham, Hindustan Ki Kasam and Kohram -- is now on the wish list of established filmmakers like B R Chopra (Baghban) and Rakjumar Santoshi (Khaki) as well as the new brigade of Honey Irani (Armaan), Vikram Bhatt (Aitbaar) and Farhan Akhtar (Lakshya).

A wax imitation at London's Madam Tussauds and a temple in Kolkata are proof of his continuing success.

Age is now obviously just a number.

Amitabh Bachchan's Famous Songs
Song	Film	Singer
Tere mere milan ki  yeh raina	Abhiman	Kishore Kumar, Lata  Mangeshkar
Yeh dosti hum nahin	Sholay	Manna Dey, Kishore  Kumar
Kabhie kabhie mere  dil mein	Kabhie Kabhie	Mukesh
My name is Anthony  Gonsalves	Amar Akbar  Anthony	Kishore Kumar
Khaike paan  Banaraswala	Don	Kishore Kumar
Salaam-e-ishq  meri jaan	Muqaddar Ka  Sikandar	Kishore Kumar, Lata  Mangeshkar
Pardesiyan yeh sach  hai piya	Mr Natwarlal	Kishore Kumar, Lata  Mangeshkar
John Jaani Janradhan	Naseeb	Mohammed Rafi
Mere angne mein	Lawaris	Amitabh Bachchan
Yeh kahan aa  gaye hum	Silsila	Amitabh Bachchan, Lata  Mangeshkar
Pag ghungroo baandh	Namak Halal	Kishore Kumar
Jooma chumma de de	Hum	Sudesh Bhosle,Kavita  Krishnamurthy

'I don't know why Mrityudaata flopped'

Kavita Khanna in Washington

"You wanted an interview, right?" Big B says from the doorway of his dressing room. "Come on in!"

So in you go into the small rectangular room with lockers lining one wall, a table, no mirror, and a few green-and-yellow metal chairs. The perfect gentleman he is, Amitabh Bachchan clears towels off a chair, and waves you into it. "Wait," he says as you are about to sit down, "This one is a bit wet..." He gets you another chair and seats himself opposite, ready for questions.

Face pale with powder and his contact lens clearly visible in the harsh light, Bachchan looks every bit his age. He plays with themaulis (red threads) on his right wrist and remains the epitome of politeness, but always on guard -- weighing each sentence carefully before lending it voice. Excerpts from the interview:

Could you tell us about your upcoming projects?

Amitabh Bachchan in Major Saab

One is Major Saab with Ajay Devgan, Sonali Bendre, Nafisa Ali. It is an ABCL production, directed by Tinnu Anand. Eighty per cent of the film is ready and we should be releasing it later this year.

Then there is Bade Mian Chote Mian with Govinda, Lal Badshah with Manisha and Shilpa Shetty. I am also doing a guest appearance in Hindustan Ki Kasam. Then I am doing a film for S Ramanathan in the south; it hasn't been named yet. It's with Arshad Warsi, Vijayshanti and Karishma. And then there are our own (ABCL) productions... Inder Kumar's film with Madhuri and Aamir Khan and Mehul Kumar's Aye Watan Tere (which will be on as soon as I get back)...

Why do you think Mrityudaata flopped?

I don't know the reasons. It might have been something to do with the story... Or the way it was made. Or maybe, the performance.

How is ABCL doing? We have been hearing all sorts of rumours.

ABCL is doing fine. Ups and downs are normal in business.

Why did your chief executive officer Sanjiv Gupta resign?

Just structural changes that are taking place. Normal structural changes. The decision to leave was his own.

No plans to retire...?

Yes. But I have about four or five films in hand. I guess I'll complete them first.

Will your son be entering Bollywood?

I don't know. If he wishes to do so, he will have all co-operation from me. It's still a long way away, I think.

On this tour you haven't invited audience members on to stage. Why? Many of them would give their eyeteeth to be there with you...

(Very animatedly) Will they, really? I didn't know that was so popular. If they want me to do it, I'll do it!

(And he did do it. In the concert finale, when he performed Mere angane main from Laawaaris , the Big B had delighted wives of all descriptions joining him on stage.

Who says the man doesn't give the public what they want any more?)

QUICK FACTS:

Amitabh Bachchan

'He is everybody's brother, father, son'

Ajitabh and Ramola Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan's only brother and sister-in-law Ajitabh and Ramola say the public perception of the superstar as a kind, loving father and gentleman is both accurate and richly deserved.

In a rare media interview on the eve of his brother's 60th birthday, a delighted Ajitabh told rediff.com how he had contributed to a book of photographs and to a film that are being released for the occasion.

"He has had a very long, steady career. He has done well in films or television or the stage or live shows," says Ajitabh who lives with his wife and children in London's exclusive enclave of Hampstead.

"With Amitabh, it is also a national thing. He is everyone's brother, father, son."

The two brothers live thousands of miles apart. Ajitabh has been a resident of London for the last 15 years. But they are in regular and friendly contact. Although Amitabh often stays at a hotel when he visits London, he also always takes time out to touch base with his younger brother's family to renew and strengthen the family contacts he holds so dear.

The Bachchan brothers were born in pre-Independence Allahabad and were sent to boarding school at Sherwood College, Nainital, in 1956 after their father was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

They are sons of one of India's best known Hindi poets, 96-year-old Harivanshrai Bachchan, a PhD from Cambridge University, UK, where he did his doctoral research on poet W B Yeats. His sons were born after he returned to India and took up a job teaching English Literature at Allahabad University.

The boys' names were chosen by Harivanshrai's best friend at the time and fellow poet, Sumitra Nandan Pant. "He was a godfather figure," recalls Ajitabh.

"The names that were chosen for us are Bengali names. Amitabh means the light that cannot be extinguished. Ajitabh means the light you cannot conquer; it also means the sun.

The Cambridge and Allahabad connection explains the Bachchan family's lifelong friendship with the Nehrus. This is a subject that Ajitabh does not wish to discuss, although he acknowledges that [late Prime Minister] Indira Gandhi did rush to his brother's hospital bed when he was critically ill when he was injured on the sets of Coolie in 1983.

For Ajitabh, the most significant gift from his father and mother Teji has been the happy atmosphere they created at home. Some of that happiness rubbed off on the boys, helping forge an unbreakable bond of friendship between them.

"Of course, we looked after each other at school, but there was a five-year difference so we hardly knew each other at school," says Ajitabh. "By the time I came out of school, Amit had already left college. Still, we were good friends even though we were so many years apart."

After school, the brothers ended up in Kolkata, looking for suitable employment, and then Mumbai. Much later, Ajitabh left for London with his family.

A devoted fan of his elder brother's films -- Sholay and Deewar are his favourites -- Ajitabh remembers how his brother was always in the school's English language plays. But all the Hindi diction and recitation for which Amitabh is so famous came from their father.

Amitabh, then a shipping executive in Kolkata, found a bride for his younger sibling. He and Ramola had been sincere friends for a few years. He then introduced her to Ajitabh.

Ramola has happy memories of the days she spent in Kolkata as a guest of both Amitabh and Ajitabh. She says, "My friendship with Amitabh goes back to before he or I got married and even before I met Ajitabh. Amitabh was working in Kolkata in his pre-film days. We moved in the same circle and were very good friends. It was through him that I met Ajitabh.

"It was pure friendship. This was in the 1960s before he had thought of joining the films. I think he had a secret yearning for films, but it was not prominent then."

Describing her brother-in-law as a decent human being who always remembers birthdays and anniversaries, Ramola adds, "We have been out of India for a while, but whenever Amitabh is in London or whenever we are in India we see a lot of him.

"He is primarily a family man," continues Ramola. "His commitments to his family are of the greatest importance to him. That is how I know him. I know him as a family man, a loving family man. He is very good at remembering special family occasions. In spite of his very busy life he never fails to remember family occasions. He calls us and wishes us from wherever he is.

"Our children get on with him very well. They know and respect him as their uncle but they also have a very informal relationship with him. He has the capacity of coming down to their level, chatting with them, having fun with them."

Ramola watches every one of Amitabh's films. Her best memory is of Amit as an angry young man in films like Zanjeer, Deewar and Muqaddar Ka Sikander. "My favourite is Amar Akbar Anthony because l think you see a bit of everything of Amitabh in that film. That is the best memory I have of him. He does comedy, he does action, he does emotion, you see a bit of everything."

Asked whether she can explain Amitabh's ever strong popularity with film goers, Ramola says he was always a hero in the minds of the public. "The celluloid image and his personal image fused when he had his big accident [on the sets of Coolie] in 1982. He was critically ill and became a personal treasure for the country.

"It would be very presumptuous of me to pass a judgement on him as an actor, but I would agree with the general opinion that he's an actor par excellence and has a very varied repertoire. He can do the hardened criminal, the loving father, the romantic, the comedy."

As Amitabh's bhabhi (sister-in-law), Ramola expects to play a special role in the celebrations for his birthday. "I will not give away any secrets. But a 60th birthday demands something very special."

Ajitabh and Ramola Bachchan spoke to Shyam Bhatia in London

'I am protective about Dad'

Shweta Nanda

How can I say why my father is so special? He just is. He's extremely... I don't have words to define it.

I am so overwhelmed. One thinks it is a personal celebration and we are so overwhelmed as a family that people cannot contain their affection. Isn't this brilliant[she looks around the room at Mumbai's J W Marriott Hotel, where her mother Jaya has called a press conference to present her gift to Amitabh Bachchan -- a biographhy called To Be Or Not To Be. She looks at people cluttered around her father].

I have no words. I am trying to think aloud.

There is so much happening -- this book launch, Tirupati [the family had flown down to the religious shrine at Tirupati a day before Amitabh's 60th birthday], this media thing... He has just got back from Mauritius [where Amitabh is shooting for Honey Irani's Armaan]. Everyone has flown in for him.

We have had a wonderful life, a wonderful childhood. He is the foundation of our family.

I am very, very protective about him. All of us are.

You know how he is. Dad is a recluse, but he has never kept away from people who have wanted to meet him.

I remember once mum had cut my hair. Dad was very upset. He even gets upset when mum does anything to her hair. He tells me what colours I should wear and what makeup I should use. He has always been involved with us to the minutest detail.

I have grown up with that kind of attention and have learnt that kind of detail from him.

He has been a very indulgent father yet firm. He strikes a perfect balance. He never overdoes it.

And he is overjoyed to be a grandfather. Can't you tell? [Amitabh carries grandson Agastya and listens to granddaughter Navya Naveli as she patters into his ear]

When Navya was born, he couldn't stop smiling. I am so glad he wasn't there for the labour. He gets panicky and he would have made my life miserable.

But he was there for my son's birth and he actually filmed me in the operation theatre.

He and my son are still discovering each other. My son is not yet two and my daughter will soon be five.

It is great the way they relate to each other.

Dad insisted I bring them to Tirupati. He said I would not have to look after them. He would. He actually flew with them, entertained them all through the journey.

We have been great believers of Tirupati. Whenever we find time, we head there. We are a very religious family. My father is a very religious man, so it was a nice way to bring in his birthday.

He likes to spend time with his family.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be his daughter. I want to live up to the kind of human being he is. It has nothing to do with his screen presence or the kind of adulation he commands. But as a human being.

I would like to be to my parents what Dad has been to his. He sets very high standards for all of us. Hopefully, we are getting there.

Shweta Nanda spoke to Lata Khubchandani

'He is two contrasting personalities'

Hema Malini

I did a number of films with him. He was a wonderful costar, totally different from the others. I remember him as two different, contrasting personalities really. At times, he was very aloof, very quiet and would say very little. But at others, he would be a lot of fun, fooling about, making you laugh.

I think he was always lighthearted on Manmohan Desai's sets. He was in a great mood when we were doing Naseeb and Desh Premee. It was as if he was more at home with Manmohan Desai.

His professionalism is legendary. He was always prepared when he came to the sets. He was very easy to work with. I had a cordial relationship with all my heroes. Some like Jeetendra or Shatrughan Sinha were very funny. Amitabh was more serious, more professional.

But at times you would get a glimpse of his boyishness when he was in a lighthearted mood. When I meet him now, he appears more serious.

As an actor, he turned all his minus points into pluses. When he came into films, everyone said he was very tall, and all kinds of comments were made about him because he was very different from a normal hero. But it became a plus point with him.

Everybody can learn from this -- that you can develop yourself into anything you want.

We are now doing Baghban together. It is wonderful being paired opposite him again.

Hema Malini spoke to Lata Khubchandani

Jaya Bachchan turns 59 Monday ...

By Arpana, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) As wife of Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan and mother of emerging star Abhishek, Jaya could have easily slipped into their shadows. But the veteran actress, who turns 59 Monday, has continuously reminded everyone that she continues to stand on her own.

Till date she is remembered as the simple, deglamourised, girl next door of "Guddi", who entered the hearts of millions of movie buffs. She is known to be a graceful, ideal woman both on and off screen.

Unlike her husband who has vowed to stay away from politics, Jaya is in the thick of things as a Samajwadi Party MP.

Recently, the Election Commission issued a notice to her on allegations that she had hidden details about two plots in her husband's name in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. She is to reply to the Commission April 15.

Jaya has remained undeterred by such political crises and is more active on the political front than on the big screen. But right now she is busy with preparations for her son Abhishek's wedding to actress Aishwarya Rai that is fixed for April 20.

< type=text/java>< type=text/java>< src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/java>