By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Birth Anniversary
ज़िन्दगी तो बेवफा है एक दिन ठुकरायेगी
मौत महबूबा है अपने साथ लेकर जायेगी
मर के जीने की अदा जो दुनिया को सिखलायेगा
वो मुकद्दर का सिकंदर, जान-ए-मन कहलायेगा
रोते हुये आते हैं सब, हँसता हुआ जो जायेगा
Amitabh Bachchan began his career as a non entity. He was often frowned upon at his taller frame & dialogue delivery, the two things that later proved his biggest asset, raison d’etre so to say. Audacity to deliver things so aggressively and expressively made him outsmart the smartest. I saw him race to stardom though slowly but steadily . His phenomenal rise to stardom is attributed to his role which Prakash Mehra offered him in 1973 film “Zanzeer” also starring Pran, Jaya Bhaduri, Ajit & Bindu. There was no looking back as Yash Chopra’s “Deewar’ did wonders at the box office opening floodgates of fresh assignments for the young lad. One of the dialogues of the film later fashioned his roaring success in Bollywood: Iftikhar who plays Don Davar quips: “Ye Lambi race Ka ghoda hai . Jindagi kee race mein jis din isne speed pakdi, yeh sabko peeche chhod dega”. Some of Amitabh Bachchan’s earlier films had failed to do well.
Amitabh who started with “Saat Hindustani” came into media limelight co-starring Rajesh Khanna in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s “Anand” which paved way for his success . In “Deewaar” he played an angry man, a trend setter concept sort of, ‘paying in the same coin’, ‘An ear for an ear’ & ‘An eye for an eye’. His next few films “Muqaddar Ka Sikanda”, “Andha Kanoon”, ‘Laawaris”, “Desh Premi”, “Sholay”, “Don”, “Aakhri Raasta”, ‘Sharaabi ” & “Amar Akbar Anthony” portrayed him as an angry man.
Amitabh did not have the opportunity to co-star with many of the yesteryears’ ladies. The actor, however, had a wonderful chemistry with Rekha earlier & Jaya Prada later. He also worked with some relatively younger actresses like Meenakshi Seshadhri, Madhvi, Amrita Singh , Kimi Katkar, Parveen Babi, Rati Agnihotri & Zeenat Aman. “Sholay” & “Trishul” were his other blockbusters. Sudhendu Roy’s “Saudaagar” (1973) starring Nutan & Padma Khanna was one of his finest movies. The other was “Milli”. Bachchan also did comic roles in few films.
I was with the ‘mega star’ at Sumeet during the trial of film “Mahaan” with other guests including my wife. I was also present when Yash Chopra received him at the premiere of his film “Kabhi Kabhie” in 1976. He reached the venue straight from Bangalore where he was shooting. Yash Chopra offered him a bouquet.
After the ABC debacle most people had written him off. Surprisingly, he rose like the proverbial ‘phoenix from the ashes” to regain his lost reputation. Sony TV popular show ‘KBC’ proved like a ‘shot in the arm’ for him. Not only his popularity increased tenfold, he also became a household name.
