Amitabh Bachan
Amitabh Bachan, one of modern Bollywood’s fathers, is a consummate entertainer, dancing badly, singing, and still around after more than thirty years. His role as Sholay pushed him to peak fame. Ramesh’s Sippy’s Sholay (1975) is the highest-grossing movie of all time in India and a turning point in the history of film. Sanjeev Kumar plays the main character who captures the memorable grand villain Gabbar Singh.
Gabbar emphatically swears his revenge as Kumar returns home with presents for his family, only to find them slaughtered. Enraged, Kumar storms Gabbar’s hideout, but is easily outnumbered and his arms are cut off. To take revenge, Kumar calls on two excriminals to capture Gabbar alive — Jai (Amitabh Bachan) and Veeru, who journey to Kumar’s village.
Sholay enjoyed myth-like status in India, spawning a number of catchphrases comparable to Gone With the Wind and turning cinemas into karaoke bars. Thirty years later, Bachan plays the paternal figure in Sanjay Leela’s Black for example. Black is a genre movie, appealing mainly to international audiences — Time Magazine rated Black as the fifth best film of 2005.
It centres on an Anglo-Indian family whose first daughter Michelle (Rani Mukherjee) is diagnosed as deaf and blind at eighteen months. A frustrated family send Michelle away to an institute where she meets mentor Debraj (Amitabh Bachan) whose first task is to discipline her, and gradually integrate her into the world. The task of teaching proves to be immensely challenging but effective. Debraj then wants Michelle to achieve the seemingly impossible — a university degree.
Black is inspired by the life of Helen Keller but with heart-string yanking that people not used to Bollywood may find overwhelming. Buy yourself some tissues.
18th May 2006