Fourth National Award this year and commercial success and critical acclaim for “Pink“, Amitabh Bachchan has reasons enough to celebrate his birthday in a big way but as the megastar of Hindi cinema turns 76 today.
He also gave a self-interview on the eve of his birthday on Twitter.
T 2959 – An interview on the eve of birthday : It is that special day again…special for us, that is. Why (cont) https://t.co/8n1ERaBtXw
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) October 11, 2018
T 2959 – An interview on the eve of birthday :
It is that special day again…special for us, that is. Why do birthdays annoy you so much?
Answer: Such an unnecessary fuss, birthdays .. its just another day in the life of another person .. !
What would be the ideal birthday for you? Perhaps a day spend completely away from attention?
Answer: Yes, that would be ideal .. but I would like to have my family with me .. particularly my grandchildren ..!
Amitji, for years and years now you’ve been living a life devoted to others–and I am one of the privileged beneficiaries. Do you sometimes feel, ‘Ab bahot ho gaya. Ab mujhe khud ke liye jeena hai.’?
Answer: न जाने क्यूँ ऐसा लग रहा है आपको ? जो संतुष्टि , एक ऐसा जीवन जीने में, जो दूसरों को समर्पित है, वो कहीं और नहीं मिल सकती है । ‘बहुत होना’ मेरे लिए, एक कलाकार की दृष्टि में, बहुत ही कमज़ोर अवस्था होगी ।
The day an artist feels that this is enough no more, would be for me, a defeat on my creative abilities. Yes there shall always be limitations to our abilities, but to admit that without effort, would be devastating. I believe we learn each day of our living life. Giving up on it would mean, giving up on living. I would wish to keep learning each day of my life; and I do know and realise that even that would never be enough.
What are some of your unfulfilled dreams as an actor, artist, musician and an Indian?
Answer: As an actor, there are millions of unfulfilled dreams. Dreams of perfection, of qualifying the craft to its ultimate – if there ever can be one. As an artiste, to accept my limitations and yet keep attempting to improve on each challenge. As a musician, to be able to educate myself and be in the learning of musical instruments, for music to me is the closest connect to the Almighty; the learning not for any kind of exploitation, but for my own personal, internal passion ! As an Indian, I have always wanted India to be termed as a developed nation, and not be in the category of a ‘developing nation’, as India is often referred to in the West; to be a 1st world nation, and not be labelled as 3rd world!
Your next release is the much-awaited Thugs Of Hindostan where your get-up, demeanour, dialogues and, of course, the legendary baritone are being talked about again. How easy/tough was it for you to wear all that makeup(I know you hate it) and do the gruelling action scenes?
Answer: Yes the make and costume and the acts during the shooting of ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ have been tough and difficult and strenuous, but when did any job ever be easy. The time consumed in getting prepared for work each day took a good 3-4 hours, in putting the look on and another hour and a half to take it off, at the end of the day .. but once a commitment has been made, it is but professional to do and behave in a manner that is directed by the makers. I hope I have been able to do so.
Amitji, we are going through some of the toughest times this nation has ever seen. How do you view the atrocities against women children and weaker sections? Do you feel there is a solution to the social inequality that fosters widespread injustice?
Sexual harassment at workplaces specially in the entertainment business, is one of the vital issues being addressed today.How do you look at the problem of women’s safety at work places?
Answer: No woman should ever be subjected to any kind of misbehaviour, or disorderly conduct; especially at her work place. Such acts should immediately be brought to the notice of concerned authorities, and corrective measures be taken, either through filing complaints or a recourse to law. Discipline and civic, social and moral curriculums, should be adopted at a very early educational level. Women children and the weaker sections of our society are the most vulnerable. They need to be under special protective care. It has been most heartening to see women representations in most work vocations, on the increase in our country. It would be an unrepairable blemish if we are not able to provide them the welcome they deserve and the dignity of the security of their presence.
I know favourites keep changing. But which among your films are are your favourites at the moment?
Answer:
All..
If Deewaar were to be remade whom would you like to be cast in Shashiji and your role?
Answer: We have today in the film Industry several distinguished talents of this generation that would be more than capable of remaking and performing roles played by Shashiji and me. I just feel, with all due respect, it would be extremely difficult to replicate the writing and screenplay of Salim -Javed.
Your closing thoughts?
Answer: I hereby ‘close’ my interview ..
Thank you
As his fans and B-town send him greetings and wishes, he too expressed his gratitude on his Twitter handle.
T 2958 – To all that have wished me .. to all that have sent greetings .. to all that have kept with me all along .. to all that have the gift of giving me longevity .. to all with my LOVE 🙏🙏🤗🤗🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 pic.twitter.com/jFeXfMdQqu
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) October 10, 2018
Here is how he looked in his childhood.
His most recent performance was seen in 102 Not Out which got released in May this year and once again, his hosted television show, Kaun Banega Crorepati is back and running in its 10th season.
With each passing year, Bachchan keeps surprising fans with his performances. In 2016, he had three releases “Wazir”, “Te3n”, and “Pink”, and though only one of them became a success, it made up for the failure of other two.
His father Harisvanshrai Bachchan was a renowned Hindi poet; mother Teji Bachchan was a close associate of the Nehru-Gandhi family but he had to face a lot of hardships to attain stardom in his career that spans more than for four decades now.
It took Bachchan a wait of 13 flops to finally break in the film industry as a lead hero, thanks to Prakash Mehra’s action film “Zanjeer“.
His angry young Vijay Khanna enthralled everyone and it marked the start of another era in Bollywood–“Abhimaan”, “Namak Haram”, “Deewar”, “Trishul”, “Kabhie Kabhie”, “Sholay”, “Don”, the list is infinite. Soon, Bachchan made his way to superstardom.
There were a few hiccups in his otherwise illustrious career, including a near-fatal injury while shooting for Coolie (1983). He returned to the big screen after a five-year absence with the box-office success Shahenshah (1988).
In 1990, Bachchan played the iconic role of gangster Vijay Deenanath Chauhan in Mukul S Anand’s “Agneepath“.
Despite being a box-office failure, it garnered him his first ever National Film Award for Best Actor and has since developed a cult status.
In 1996, he started his film production company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation whose first release Tere Mere Sapne (1996) was a box-office failure.
This was perhaps the lowest spell in Bachchan’s career, by his own admission, and it only broke with Yash Chopra’s “Mohabbatein” in 2001, where he featured alongside the reigning star Shah Rukh Khan. Bachchan maintains till today that he will always be grateful to the late filmmaker for giving him the movie when he needed it the most.
The same year, Bachchan made his television debut as the host of the game show “Kaun Banega Crorepati“. Like many other things, he became a trendsetter on the small screen as well.
The Huge success of “Kaun Banega Crorepati” made way for stars like Shah Rukh and Salman Khan to take up hosting on television.
On the big screen, Bachchan by then had deviated towards more character-oriented parts like that of a short-tempered banker in “Aankhen”, a disillusioned father in “Baghban” and a conflicted cop in “Khakee”.
In 2005, he played the role of a teacher of a blind and deaf girl in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Black”, for which he received his second National Award. He received another National Award for playing a progeria patient in R Balki’s “Paa” (2009).
In the 2000s, one of the most notable characters Bachchan played was in Ram Gopal Varma’s “Sarkar”. His understated, nuanced performance as Subhash Nagre aka Sarkar is rated as one of his finest acts ever.
His upcoming films are Ram Gopal Varma’s “Sarkar 3”, and Aditya Chopra’s production “Thugs of Hindostan” with superstar Aamir Khan.
Besides his work in India, Bachchan, who was born in 1942 in Allahabad, made his Hollywood debut at the ripe age of 71 in 2013 with Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”.
Indian government honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 for his contributions to the arts.