By An Jo
The bridge between child-hood and adult-hood wasn’t that lengthy; what with DD raking within the TRPs with AB films each Saturday, pageant or not. With crores being generated for DD because of the endorsements, because of households reserving their Saturdays to catch his films, DD merely couldn’t get sufficient of AB. Right here’s the place I began discovering the vary of this man.
5> SHOLAY: Sholay was whereI found the person’s expertise to tackle every proficient star/actor on equal footing, no matter lesser display screen area. This was a film stuffed with massive stars, greater than AB at the moment; Dharam, Jaya, Sanjeev, and naturally, the unknown Amjad Khan. There was an addition to this; a tall and unconventional wanting AB with hardly something going for him when it comes to ‘screen-presence’ however solely peak and an attention-grabbing hair-style. [His name shows up in the title credits after all the other stalwarts’.] AB displayed a never-before seen mixture of laconic humor, stead-fastness, and thuggish however conscious and mind-controlled bravery on display screen. [Watch how he opens his mouth lazily yawning when Jai says, ‘Arre jab hum Daulatpur mein giraftar hue the, Thandedaar Saab yehi toh the”, referring to Sanjeev. All that Bachchan says opening his sleepy eyes: “Mujhe toh sab policewaalon ki surat ek jaisi dikhti hai.” To which Dharam replies: “Kya boloon, Iski toh aadat hai bak-bak karne ki.” Who does the bak-bak the most? We know that very well. And then there’s the utterly lovable, soft romantic parallel running between him and Jaya: No words exchanged: Sippy took 2 years to get the lantern light right when AB plays the harmonica, and the scene lingers on in our collective conscience even after 47 years. Jaya just stands there looking at AB’s dead body: after he is killed: The distance, present, the longing, omnipresent. Having watched in the late ‘90s on a VHS, this movie sealed it for me as AB being an actor-star par excellence. He might have held the bridge with minimal bullets for 15 minutes, but that scene is buried in my heart, and still there, after 47 years.
6> SAUDAGAR: Now this one is an eternal favorite of mine. I happened to catch this on DD one fine evening, without knowing that a film like this even existed.One can see the genesis of the brilliance that AB was to display in ABHIMAAN, of insecurity, hidden angst, opportunism, and jealousy. After witnessing his glorious act in this film of a flawed, insecure, turncoat ‘gud’ seller, his acting credentials were just thumped on my conscience like that tattoo in DEEWAR: “Yeh har actor ka Baap Hai.” Directed by Sudendhu Roy, it is invigorating and liberating to see AB without a centimeter of his mad stardom on him. With a stellar performer like Nutan by his side, it was one joyous occasion for fans of AB, the actor, watching him at his naturalistic best.
7> SILSILA: Again, a family outing at 9 pm.15, maybe 20 of us. I slept away, after disturbing the relatives many times, asking the most intelligent question a kid could garner: “Why isn’t he beating anybody?” And then I dozed off. Years later, on DD, watched this and was stunned at the ethereal, erotic thread Yash showed in the still conservative ‘80s. The clothes, the stunning chemistry between Rekha and Amit, his outrageous flirtation at the wedding, and of course, the penultimate Holi song where Amit just loses it and caves-in to the effects of the deadly combination of Rekha and ‘bhaang.’ But the most poignant scene in the entire movie remains to me the one where AB packs his bags and explains to Jaya that he’s leaving her for Rekha. An incredibly powerful scene, the look and expressions on AB’s face are heart-wrenching. It’s a multitude of emotions; of guilt, of hopelessness, of succumbing to the other woman, and what have you. He just holds her hand, and talks about why he has to leave her. AB at his most vulnerable best.Too bad Yash copped out in the climax.
8> TRISHUL: In my personal book, this performance of AB and this film, if not greater than DEEWAR, is at par with it. AB gave an outstanding meaning to being consistently in ‘character’ throughout the movie. TRISHUL, the trident of Lord Shiva, is terrifically captured here in spirit, and AB, playing Shiva, gives one helluva performance as the destroyer. The ‘intent’ is noble; of avenging his mother’s humiliation, for being bastardized, but the means that he’s wedded to is ruthless. Right from lighting dynamites, to under-quoting, price-rigging construction auctions, AB alarmingly is single-minded but never, ever, does he let his act fall into that trap of a ‘one-note’ performance. So much so, that even when he’s singing, there’s cynicism in his expressions displayed to the hilt. “कीताबॉन में छपते है चाहत की किससे, हक़ीक़त की दुनिया में, चाहत नहीं है”, writes the lyricist, and AB’s nihilistic, cynical expressions breathe life and meaning into these words. Hema tries to convince him about the power of love, Rakhee longingly looks at him, Shashi ebulliently tries to persuade him, but AB just stands there like a rock; a rock that can emote like there’s no tomorrow.
9> KAALA PATTHAR: The most intense, brooding performance ever, beating the likes of his own performance in DEEWAR and ZANJEER, this was Bachchan at his smoldering best. Based on Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim, AB displays inner turmoil, angst, disgust at himself thanks to his cowardice, which is unmatched in the Bombay Film Industry at least; to hell with niceties, the entire nation. He looks devilishly handsome with his back against the wall when his father censures him calling him a ‘buzdil.’ He goes into oblivion, gets himself lost in the coal mines, blackening his face, but most importantly, trying to redeem a vestige of his burnt soul. His fight with the bombastic Shatru is stuff of legends, immensely watchable in 2022 with him coming towards Shatru like a howling volcano and lunging at him with his two long legs. And then, who can forget his smashing the window yelling, “हाँ में बुज़दिल हूँ, कायर हूँ.” He didn’t smash a mirror in that scene, he smashed a million hearts that felt his pain.
