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394 Responses to “Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap trailers (updated)”
Note by the way how these ‘teasers’ are a logical end to the way this age approaches masala. I won’t regurgitate (!) everything I’ve said on this before but my essential point is that masala is accessed in the present as something ‘fun’, in a somewhat deconstructive way. It’s something you enjoy without taking too seriously whereas the whole point of masala was that it had to be taken very seriously. So now we finally have Bachchan ‘returning’ to masala after a long long gap and there is again a somewhat tongue-in-cheek ‘response’ to the ‘angry young man’. We see of course how those lines are now part of ‘culture’ and can be quoted anytime anywhere. and so these teasers measure the transcendence of those moments (by the way isn’t this bad news for the Agneepath remake? That the ‘original’ shows up referring to his history?!). At the same time these are emptied out of their ‘revolutionary moment’. In other words this is that aspect of the ‘angry young man’ that can be ‘consumed’. For this reason there is something appropriate about these teasers. Because these build a bridge from the original ‘event’ and all its iconic manifestations to the present ‘cultural’ transcendence of the ‘once’ angry young man. This move is always achieved at the ‘cost’ of emptying out the immediacy of the political charge. In this sense Bachchan is even more ‘universal’ now than he was at his peak because now no one objects to him. Therefore it is only ‘right’ that these teasers have silhouettes. This is a nice ‘figure’ for engaging with that history from the perspective of the present. In a sense the ‘ghost’ is all you get!
I should say that this dynamic whereby the event becomes ‘culture’ in a somewhat bland way is not limited to Bachchan’s legacy. In a way this is what happens with every very successful artistic (and not only artistic) event. We can now comfortably access Shakespeare as culture and miss what was so revolutionary about his original interventions. Or in other words we can understand this as critics but the ‘world’ of that work is now lost. ‘Culture’ is then another name for what is replicable about the event. But it is also a name for the moment at which the event can start getting co-opted. Therefore as a thinker puts it revolutions must be abandoned the moment they are successful. Because the morning after becomes co-optation! So the irony always is that it takes historical perspective for the full dimensions of the event to be apparent (Bachchan’s event is much clear from out vantage point than it was in the late 70s… Shakespeare 400 years or so later is far more of one than could have seemed possible to the audiences of his day) but when these do become clear (or ‘legible’) the event has already been in a sort of decline. So again with Sholay the film shocked its original audiences who actually took some time to absorb it (this is why no one could figure out for a week or more at the time whether the film was working or not) but today every ‘element’ in the film works in a detachable way (from its original context) and can be repeated in a purely ironic self-reflexive way as with that zany moment in Jhankaar Beats (“how did the Thakur eat?”.. the protagonists trying to pick up condoms with their mouths with their hands behind their backs!) or people can ‘enjoy’ them without being offended by anything in the film.
Heidegger always thought that contrary to all the romanticism about art once the ‘world’ of an artwork (its original contexts) was lost the work itself could never really be retrieved in its full glory. Put differently the deepest subversions of a work get ironed out over time at which point these can be recovered as cultural criticism but not in terms of their original force. When works become culture in the most profound sense this ‘economy’ testifies to the original ‘event’ but the latter still cannot be ‘replayed’ for all its original potency. In different and somewhat ‘postmodern’ terms the event is in a sense always either too early or too late. When it’s really ‘on’ it does not quite have the history and when it does have the genealogy it has been switched ‘off’ in certain important ways. This is the paradox of the event and no great event in art (or for that matter in politics or elsewhere is free of this movement).
“whereas the whole point of masala was that it had to be taken very seriously”
While I am in agreement with most everything you say, I would disagree that the original masala movies wanted themselves to be taken seriously. I would say this with some confidence for MD films that used the “lost and found” ingredients mainly as something entertaining….masaleydaar vada pav that one needed everyday vs the gourmet food one had occasionally in an expensive restaurant (aakrosh and other serious “parallel” cinema of those times). My 2 cents.
I am reminded of that well known and provocatively titled work ‘Did the Greeks believe in their myths?’ The answer is not in the naive ways we sometimes assume that people living in ancient times related to their belief systems. It was more a question of those beliefs forming a horizon of meaning. This is also what the ‘death of God’ proclamation means. Not that people suddenly stop believing in God but that God ceases to be the ultimate guarantor of meaning, the ultimate ‘foundation’ of all belief.
Similarly people were not naive about masala (and Desai’s wasn’t the only kind). But that genre or really ‘super-genre’ required a level of investment by the viewer. It couldn’t work with the viewer adopting a certain ironic distance. Many of these narratives were cathartic experiences, certainly all the great Salim Javed scripts or the Prakash Mehra films. Even in Desai’s films which were essentially ‘comedies’ (understood in the classical sense as the opposite of tragedy) there were genuine moments of loss that couldn’t necessarily be overcome. The way those films were structured, the way those narratives worked was something very different from say the tone of Dabanng or the kind so far exhibited in these Bbuddah promos. Here it is required for the viewer to approach the whole thing with a tongue-in-cheek stance. No one could approach Mukaddar ka Sikandar or Trishul or Ganga Ki Saugandh that way! Why? The stakes were just too high? Who could sit at a distance when the film was Lawaaris?! I’ve already talked about Sholay. So on and so forth. In recent times there has been the counterexample of Ghajini. Everything has to be taken seriously here. There is no question of preserving that ironic distance with this film. This is how masala worked once. Even the Desai films offered a saturation of experience where even if the films were relatively ‘light’ there was still a lot to be absorbed. The audiences in any case did not go to the films thinking — hey it will be fun to laugh ‘at’ the film! Today that is the sort of attitude that’s often fostered. Now Bbuddah might not be like this but Dabanng certainly was. Hence you had Salman laughing for the audience at times at his own lines! This does not mean the films cannot be entertaining doing this. Just that the essence of the masala encounter is missed this way. There are many who have told me that people didn’t take it so seriously at the time and so on but I read this as a ‘reaction’. Either people re-writing things retrospectively or else the films made people uncomfortable to some degree at the time (this was definitely true for the bourgeois classes) and hence they categorized things this way. There was this old rap on Bachchan that he was ‘just for the masses’, not enough of an actor for the classes, that his films were ‘just entertainment’, that he stooped to conquer, so on and so forth. Bourgeois audiences always had an uneasy relationship with him though of course over time the event conquered all. But there were all sorts of attempts to pretend his ‘revolution’ was nothing great. It reminds me of one of Badiou’s principal stances. In dealing with a revolution one of the possibilities is to suggest: what revolution?! There is no revolution here!
Written very beautifully (both Q and S). That the works were revolutionary in hind sight…not for the contemporary (both MrShakespeare and bigb’s iconic movies).
On a very side note (and this has to do with my personal theory, which you don’t agree on, so please don’t snigger), Bigb could play those roles with soul (emote thro’ his eyes and dialogues etc etc), because he himself had gone thro’ that pain (of poverty/deprivation/struggle) and understood the masses. The newer 2nd generation of actor-kids, having never gone thro’ a single day in their life of any difficulty (abzee’s sunscreen example herre) cannot go deep into their souls to portray that angst….I can’t see anyone from Sunny D, Devgan, junior B essaying those types of roles….maybe devgan most promising but I still won’t put him in same category as dilipkumar or bigb…not just yet…quite promising though. It would have to be bajpais of this world to do justice to that characterization…
Superb comment Satyam, especially the line ” Bachchan is even more ‘universal’ now than he was at his peak because now no one objects to him”. But this also ties into your response to my comment the other day about DMD and the not-so-radical consumption of Salim-Javed scripts — you had made reference to whether the same might not be true of Shakespeare’s universality (ie that it too can be read any number of ways). Ie I do not disagree, but I cannot fully agree either, precisely for the reason you allude to in your comment here: ie, AT THE MOMENT Shakespeare (or Salim-Javed) is in “real time”, precisely because the contours of the event are NOT clear, there is “space” for the event to be “read” in a reactionary way — isn’t that part of why Shakespeare survived Elizabethan censors (ie perhaps he was read as simply the best of his peers, but not radically different from them)? So perhaps we have a paradox here: when the event is “fresh”, and if it is “universal”, it can be read “conservatively” — and when it’s significance is clearly manifested, it is no longer an event…
Satyam…I seriously think Buddah happened because of your comments, wanting to see that magic back again. Puri Jaggan I have noticed, starts off well but somehow gets lost in the middle of the story. Seen it happen with his later movies, probably caught between a battle of what he wants and what he thinks the audience want. Hope this movie will prove different
Lakshmi, LOL, I’d love to believe I’m that influential but I somehow doubt it! On Puri Jagannath I’ve been hearing this stuff from other Telugu viewers too and like you I too hope he’s on song here.
Will read satyams thesis above later…
But will have to see more of buddha promos/ trailers to make a sense of what this guy puri has come up with.
The nostalgia factor is not a big one currently ESP not in the segment who patronise multiplexes currently..
But would be happy to change my mind if I see something innovative and novel– not aware of puris work or credentials….
Pretty good teasers. I hope the future promos will be very good. This film is already in profits thanks to the low budget, etc. But I do hope this film will be able to do pretty good at the box office too. I like the way the marketing has started off.
Genre Action
Studio Viacom18 and AB CORP Limited
Plot Outline Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap marks the comeback of the Amitabh Bachchan…and he is angry!
He plays a retired hitman settled in Paris, who comes back to India to do ‘one last job’.
Amitabh exudes the style and attitude of a flamboyant man, young at heart. The film is a fast paced action thriller which showcases him in a never seen before stylized avatar with action and masala of a true Bollywood film with the “Original Action Hero”!
Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon, Charmee
Directed By Puri Jagannath
If I recollect then Satyam did put up unauthorized photos of the shooting, taken by some unethical journos and going by that it seems they haven’t changed even a bit and that is little disappointing.
Bbuddah
Listen up all you Big B fans…Exclusive first look of Bbuddah…Hoga Terra Baap will be aired today between 9 pm – 10 pm. Stay glued to your T.V sets…you surely wouldn’t want to miss the Angry Young Man in action
Note the series there… a lot of films mentioned, mostly recent stuff (was surprised to see Jaadugar mentioned) but only one name that isn’t a film. Tiger!
I’ve seen the trailer three times already. This could be very big.
Indeed Sir, This will be very Big, Felt the promo was on the rustic side, as you mentioned above a complete masala, Felt like a dabang promo (when they first showed up). Hope it goes that way.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Super duper awesomely fantastic!!! Ok so my excitement levels regarding this film where really high but they like increased by a thousand times after watching this trailer!!! He truly is back!!!! Cannot cannot cannot wait for it’s release!!! ABsir ROCKS!!!!
the common thing there is really the Southern link in each case. Dabanng is really a very Southern kind of characterization. before this Wanted was a remake. Here there’s a Southern director with Bbuddah. Of course the ‘original’ for this entire vein of representation is ultimately Bachchan himself! It is his history that through various refractions (which includes the Southern ‘twist’) now comes back to us this way.
It is really more in the BnB vein which is to say about gesturality more than anything else. Bachchan could in one sense do this sort of thing in his sleep just in the 80s! At this point though it’s all about referencing a history and not really ‘being’ the character. To this degree the late career of megastars is really an ‘intertextual’ deal. It is about other films in that history. We’ve seen this with Rajnikant for many years also. The recent stuff isn’t like his 80s masala. Because the former breathes on allusion with respect to the latter. This was Shankar’s great genius in Robot. He made the film true on both levels. But what must not be missed is that there is a masala ‘body’ and a masala ‘soul’. The two are not necessarily the same. And even in the South there was a ‘late’ masala that developed over time which incorporated the whole ironic stance that was often only implicit in the older stuff.
“the common thing there is really the Southern link in each case. Dabanng is really a very Southern kind of characterization. before this Wanted was a remake. Here there’s a Southern director with Bbuddah. Of course the ‘original’ for this entire vein of representation is ultimately Bachchan himself! It is his history that through various refractions (which includes the Southern ‘twist’) now comes back to us this way”
[]Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap marks the comeback of the Amitabh Bachchan…and he is angry!
He plays a retired hitman settled in Paris, who comes back to India to do ‘one last job’.
Amitabh exudes the style and attitude of a flamboyant man, young at heart. The film is a fast paced action thriller which showcases him in a never seen before stylized avatar with action and masala of a true Bollywood film with the “Original Action Hero”!
Raveen Tandon tweets
“Hey guys, doing a film buddahh hoga tera baap, its a comedy,but don’t expect much from me in that, I’m there just as a friendly appearance!.”
A Comedy movie??..Not sure from the above if she meant about the movie or her role in it..
“Wish they had given him a more gritty look, a la Khakee rather than Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.” .. Exactly my feeling .. I would love to see him without beard look .. enough of French beard now .. its almost 10 years, now time to shave it ..
I agree with you..Wish he had new look with this one..maybe tried without beard..I guess Khakee was the last outing without that..Offcourse there was PAA..but that was totally different
Yeah, this looks like fun, just not the fun I was expecting. It really seems more plugged into the Wanted/Dabangg zone more than the Bachchan archives. Of course the former is informed by the latter, but there’s a tone here that seems to border on parody. And its hard to see “anger” in such a context.
But that in no way hampers what looks to be a fun film!
The only thing really got me excited about bachchans recent films is the second pic from the top in the “aarakhan” thread..
This has a bnb plus parody vibe but needs some “pseudo-substance” since people need some sort of “justification” even in this sort of genre…..
i bet the story will end up…sonu sood finding out that he is buddahs son out of the blues amidst all these tensions in his circle area..and they all live happy everafter after an end reunion!!
I was actually expecting waay more from the trailer. it just didn’t do anything for me. I actually liked Salman’s “Ready” trailor way more…again seems to be a similar genre, larger than life character.
I hope this doesn’t fall flat.
Just like many, I too was expecting a completely new look for BigB… dissapointing to see the same old look.
And what were they thinking in releasing this with Delhi Belly??? This is suicidal. You know Amir is going to be promoting the heck out of his movie, BHTB doesn’t have a chance in initials. This could come back and bite them.
I don’t know, I just don’t get a good feel about this movie… I hope that I’m wrong.
those were teasers.. this is a first trailer but I think the theatrical trailer will be longer. Nonetheless it’s fair you didn’t like it because it’s certainly long enough to judge one way or the other.
Does not seem to have a strong emotional base. Looks like mainly operating in comic zone with stylized action. Would have appreciated raw action and strong emotional conflicts. Suffering of the protagonist was the main emotional connect with the audience in the angry young man aura. One man against the whole system. Don’t know if the audience of today has the stomach for such films. But Bhuddah in the zone of Dabangg holds no appeal for me. It may turn out to be a well-made movie but will certainly fail to evoke nostalgia purely on the content basis. And i guess all the people here were looking for the Old Amitabh and disappointment is understandable.
BBUDDAH promo is good but to be honest was expecting some things else..thought the movie name it self says not to take to seriously!!!
I was looking for new look (without beard) and serious action movie ..a kind of Khakee deal.
nevertheless will wait for theatrical promo !!!
The song is great. But the promo is one-dimensional and predictable. Nostalgia does not work. Making Jeetendra do his jumping Jack act will not draw audiences today. To work the Angry Old Man magic some solid content, a core dramatic element, was required and that is missing. ( Think Grand Torino of Clint Eastwood.) And all this Hawaiaan shirt and scantily cald girls make the promo look like , as someone said, a ‘ TV serial’ promo. As lame as the Always Kabhi Kabhi promo with SRK. Miserly with imagination and ambition.
Amiatbh is an iconic star, never to be matched perhaps. to geta load of his talent and charisma just listen to his Radio ad on Tanishq Diamonds.
I don’t know what others were expecting… but with that title, I knew it was going to be a campy fun film that would read Amitabh’s angry young man in the only way that this present masala-decadent uninformed crowd can read. Of course, the ‘twist’ here is the presence of Amitabh… in a sense then, this re-reading, however spoofish, illegtimizes the other so-called parodies that disguised themseleves as homages or tributes to masala.
This trailer rocks btw. And the movie should be great fun.
Iamthat– good news about Rahman and jagger together…
Although Rahman is definitely a gentleman and a spiritual person we all love, I admire how he also has an eye for what’s happening around and rarely misses to catch onto good opportunities be it to work with andrew Lloyd webber or nusrat or Boyle or benegal or ghai/chopra and now this …
Plus he is the first one to be roghtl so forceful about patents in india…
Something streetsmart there as well( in a good way)…
Things cannot be credited to “postliberalisation india” and “abundant opportunities”.. Even competition is more and one has to play the game well as well( in addition to unique talent. In his case)
“You are trying to say wolf in sheep’s clothing.”–Not at all….
There is a spectrum where a person is a saint oblivious to anything practical and suffers due to this naivety…
Then there is another end of the spectrum where the predominant component is manipulation, deceipt and even thuggery….
ARR falls MUCH more towards the former end than the latter (which is where it SHOULD be IMO in todays world)
He is creditably not AT the former end though (ie not a totally saintly naive “fool”) …
Same is true somewhat for Sachin Tendulkar…
Also feel the same about MMSingh (although not to the same extent)…
Hope that xplains it in graphic terms , Ms Vatikala….lol
The spectrum must not have opposite values. Similar values but difference in degrees. Then only an honest and true assessment can be made. All the above 3 are not saints by any yardstick. They are not sacrificing or living for others. They are living for themselves doing hard work and getting paid for it. All the above 3 display a lot of gentleness and diplomacy. And they are relatively honest and better human beings. And we admire them for their achievements. Their innate simplicity may be the reason for that extra something about them.
yes , Im glad u seem to habe got the point now,Miss VAtikala…
Yes these three are not saints as u said.
But the good thing is that they are hardworking, focussed and as non-controversial as can be in their respective professions…
IN the case of ARR, I am curious about how a person like him can get transformed from AR Duleep kumar to AR Rahman.
NOT from a communal point of view, but just from a sociopsychological point of view….
And how much of this innate urge is inducement (if at all)
Anyhow it is an example of the good side of religion where a person gets the requisite focus, poise and anchor as in the case of ARR
( obviously the talent had to be there)
Among them, MMSingh’s role is the most difficult one as he has to work with so many forces pulling him while risking his personal reputation and being called weak, puppet, dishonest and every other thing. Uneasy lies the head that wears that crown of thorns.
It was not long ago when Abhi was replaced by Rana due to date issue media and some people here too manufactured the story of strain relationship betn bachchans and Ramu and how wrong and insensitive they were because Ab just thanked Ramu for his strong persuasive effort to go for Bbuddha .
Amitabh Bachchan Shows Who’s Boss In BBUDDAH First Look Trailer
by J Hurtado, May 20, 2011
A new Amitabh Bachchan action film? Now THIS is exciting!
Amitabh Bachchan has been one of Bollywood’s top stars for the last 40 years, and he built his early career on roles as an angry young man in films like Sholay, Don, Coolie, Deewar, Zanjeer, and many more. In these films Amitabh, or Big B as I will refer to him for the rest of this entry, played a badass who didn’t give a FUCK and got shit done.
Obviously as he’s aged, quite gracefully I might add, he’s had to pull back from that role in films and he has made a respectable career of playing patriarchal characters in a large number of hugely successful films, sometimes paired with current Bollywood kingpin, Shah Rukh Khan, and several times with his own son, Abhishek Bachchan. In many of these films he’s played respectable Indian men, but once in a while, like in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar films, he gets to play someone nasty, but typically the action element of these films has been left to the younger men. Not anymore.
As usual, there isn’t much plot revealed at this point, but it seems that it is a romantic comedy about a man with a quick temper. Frankly, I don’t much care. The trailer looks like a lot of fun. Big B is kickin’ asses and takin’ names, there are some fun looking musical numbers, and he co-stars with the beautiful Hema Malini, which is never a bad thing. I think the trailer speaks for itself in this case, and I can’t wait to see some more footage!
Bbuddah – Hoga Tera Baap is scheduled to release on July 1st, but these dates are always flexible when it comes to Indian films.
Watched it a couple more times.
My only grouse is the beard and some of the sun glasses. Otherwise, this seems very well crafted. This is an action thriller with comedic elements. No ‘subtexts’ or deep meaning/anguish. As said before ‘campy’ fun but seems like lots of fun.
It seems reaction is mostly positive.Some diehard fans who were expecting something different are a little disappointed.Otherwise the few negative sentiments are from expected quarters. A lot of Aamir fans seem scared tho they dont need to be.As this is really not going to dent DB’s collections which should be just fine.
I expect DB to get to above 50 crores and this one to make it to 40 crores. This will rock the single screens.
I trust Doga’s numbers, less so his analysis and put no stock in his predictions. Somewhere else (NOT HERE) – he made the following comment:
‘At the very max if it does 25+ cr that will be great for it.’
Am not sure what he is implying. If he means that the ceiling for the film is 25 crores, he is in for a surprise.
agreed on all counts here.. if BBuddah takes off there will be a certain novelty here.. similarly ZNMD will probably affect the DB demographic more than anything else.
I have rated all July Movies 10-15% less than i would have otherwise because they are jam packed.
Take a look at this,
June 24th – Double Dhamaal
July 1st – Delhi Belly, Bbuddah
July 8th – ZNMD, HP8
July 15th – Singham
July 22nd – Murder 2
July 29th or so – Mausam
Regardless of the merit of a particular movie, they will lose screening left right and centre because all the Exhibitors care for is “Taaza Maal” even if its for the weekend.
Producers can only dictate the shows and screenings for first week and even that has weakened post the deal between Producers-Exhibitors.
dogA–whats the latest verdict on DMD
I wasnt following this, so whats ur estimation for DB and Buddha
and y should abhi not move buddha to the next (clear) week—whats the harm other than bruised egos (which anyhow shouldnt be there in his case)?
Doga has it at flop like BOI as someone mentioned earlier. Taran has it at average to below average. Nahata stopped talking about it after the first weekend. The thing is I am willing to live with the ‘average’ tag on DMD if a lot of other films are recalibrated. But as always a new set of criteria arises for each film and general terms like ‘costs’ and what not has never cut it for me. For example there is simply no way, no way at all that even with DMD’s total of 31 crores or so at BOI, that they would have called it a flop with any other star.
I will say however that as a perception matter DMD is definitely some kind of success, specially with the younger target demographic. And as I’ve said before I am wiling to make a bet that when the next Rohan/Abhishek film comes around both BM and DMD will be referred to as hits and people will talk about their ‘golden’ combo and what not. There is definitely some gray area here. Did extremely well in certain multiplexes but also very poorly in others. With this sort of film a ‘universal’ tag any which way is often misleading. I of course thought it would do more than it did and a lot more but reflecting on it later I realized that this too is a film that argues ‘against’ the ‘values’ of the multiplex generation and I have never seen a film do this and become a blockbuster. None whatsoever.
In any case the blockbuster remains elusive for Abhishek. Players might do the trick.
satyam, i have more trust on bol bachchan than players, because of it’s genre, since bb is outright comedy film, so it can attract all section of crowd, and rohit shetty has dream run at bo in recent times, for players, it all depends on the treatment of movie, to encash the success of dmd, ab should do outright action, intense, youthful movie with indian sentiments, i think that type of film will fetch biggest opening of his career, becasue young audience want to see him as an angry young man, after achieving decent bo success, he shold go for his risky choice that will satisfy his authentic fans like me and you.
I will agree that the perception of DMD is more of a success in Media. Would put it in as Plus for Abhi compared to what he had last 6 months coming into it.
I though never follow BOI verdicts.
If i put DMD in red, same time i have the likes of Thank you,KI,DDD,Veer etc as Flops which BOI rates Avg etc.
Along the same line, MNIK and TMK comes around Avg rating per me, which BOI has Hit and Semihit resp.
DMD definitely deserved to be a hit…
A v good film
well directed, written, one could see the effort and talent.
Even Abhi acted well
the music was above par for this subject,,
HAve yet to hear of a person who found this bad.
Overall a good deal for abhi and sippy although they will feel cheated here of a the “hit” status…
I have little respect and patience for this antic of killing of abhi the way it was dont before the climax.
This is INDIAN audience we are talking about!!!
I am of the firm belief that this ONE decision cost this film more than 10-15 crores and a hit tag!!!
exactly what i expected from this movie: a self-aware, winking campy actioner. you just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. i think this film will be a lot of fun….
I feel a golden opportunity is lost by the Bachchans. All the young Bachchan’s scenes could have been enacted by junior Bachchan. Thus we could have seen his interpretation of Bachchan’s iconic roles whether it is Don, Agneepath or other action thrillers. There is no thrill watching Bachchan doing the same thing. But with junior Bachchan doing those roles, the novelty factor would have been there. Why blame Karan Johar if Bachchans themselves ignore their junior? there would have been those stupid comparisons. But the risk was worth taking.
But others like srk and hrithik are repeating and getting brownie points. In this particular film, it is not actually a repetition. It can be called interpretation. Atleast Junior Bachchan fans would have been interested. I think junior respects his father too much and is in awe of him to even think of this.
I don’t think to be honest anyone else has really prospered repeating Bachchan. Don is all about hype and if the first one did half decently SRK could have had a much bigger grosser with that much effort if he’d picked a different subject. We still have to see how Agneepath goes. No one really considers these films very credible as Bachchan repeats. If they’re enjoyable on their own terms people watch them without ever feeling these are a patch on the originals. Or there are those who’ve never seen the originals and don’t care either way. But with Abhishek the stakes would always be higher. Because of his more immediate connection but also because people would expect a more performance oriented serious part from him. I am not opposed to all remakes, just dumb ones. And I think trying to remake some very iconic Bachchan stuff is silly. Rohan Sippy has had the Shaan idea for a while. If he ever got to this I wouldn’t mind Abhishek here (even if the film is already too cool to be bettered!). So there is some stuff. But remakes must have a point. Getting back to SRK and Hrithik these remakes become media stories but the larger audience doesn’t read these films that way. No one thinks there’s any sort of comparison to be established between Bachchan and SRK on Don or Bachchan and Hrithik on Agneepath. And much like SRK on Don Hrithik too could have done something different with better results. This sort of deal becomes a ‘high’ for these stars (hey I’m doing Amitabh!) but it doesn’t mean much beyond the immediate. and on Abhishek leaving aside all of this he is definitely in awe of his father (who wouldn’t be?!) but I also think he just doesn’t want that sort of piggyback deal. And I cannot argue with him here. I wish he’d do more proper masala but I’ve never advanced the remake idea in this context.
RGV’s Aag was a disaster in many ways but Bachchan playing that part was the least of them. Even otherwise this ‘remake’ was a very experimental sort of deal. There was as much ‘Sholay’ in it as there is dozens of films. If RGV had never brought up the Sholay comparison no one would have even bothered about this context very much. The thing is that this film tries to stay as far as possible from all the film’s original contexts despite using the plot and characters.The film was definitely a mess in every sense but RGV nonetheless did a favor to many SRK partisans (and sometimes simply anti-Bachchan folks) who could then point out this film everytime Don was brought up as a poor remake. Suddenly this group became the greatest defender of Amjad Khan and the ‘sanctity’ of Sholay. This from a group that otherwise finds KKHH challenging cinema. Gimme a break!
I actually have a consistent position here. I found Aag a total disgrace. Didn’t mind the idea initially precisely because of the experimental sense of the film but even otherwise I thought having Bachchan and Lal together would be worth it somehow. RGV couldn’t satisfy even on this front. Don was a joke, Agneepath looks to be at least as big of one if not bigger. And even when Abhishek was in the running here (at least in the media stories) I wasn’t happy about it though I felt he should have done it as a favor to his father (though given the way this film has developed since on every level I am quite glad he isn’t in it). So some of us have some ethics and consistency about these things. Not like those who like any genre, any sort of film, any director, any setup as long as their favorite star attempts it! Here I will at least give the Hrithik fans this much — they have generally not expressed any degree of excitement or pleasure over Agneepath. Sure if it’s a hit they’ll be pleased. Can hardly blame them for this. Within the SRK brigade though there was hardly any such honesty about Don. Henry stood out at the time and now for not liking the film. But this was a rare example. Don’t have a problem with anyone liking or loving SRK. It is just this sort of dishonest politics that I have constantly battled.
“But others like srk and hrithik are repeating and getting brownie points.”
Let Abhishek first stop giving disasters and then try his fathers movies…Some one wrote Abhishek is not interested…lol…I bet he can not even dare to attempt…
About other stars… lol as if other stars have done dozens of remakes of AB’s movies…just one movies does not affect their careers….It’s not like that SRK was finished and DON was a Saviour for him…it’s the opposite…If you are remaking a film…ppl are always ready to criticize…
“All the young Bachchan’s scenes could have been enacted by junior Bachchan. Thus we could have seen his interpretation of Bachchan’s iconic roles whether it is Don, Agneepath or other action thrillers. There is no thrill watching Bachchan doing the same thing. But with junior Bachchan doing those roles, the novelty factor would have been there. Why blame Karan Johar if Bachchans themselves ignore their junior? there would have been those stupid comparisons.”—actually Miss Vatikala has a good point there!!
Surprisingly Abhishek never takes the same”rash” “careless” decsions when ABCL is the producer.
I want this film to work and with the 10 crore odd budget , this film is already a “Hit” in the conventional terms.
But being a real hardcore “original” bachchan fan (sic), I am still not comfortable with the idea of Bachchans having to curtail the budget of a film to around 10 crores to “design” a hit.
The main reason is that we are not talking about an ordirary actor but the single biggest box-office force in indian history—(but that is a fan speaking and reality changes with time)
Alas, things change and in a real sense, it is good that Bachchans are being realistic and humble about it.
The next thing i would like is for them to go all out and move this out of DBs same day release…..
As pointed out, there has to be a premise of “pseudosubstance” to the proceedings here.
Nostalgia will take things to safety but only as far…
ps—good to see that qalander is stilla live n “kicking”….
“Even otherwise this ‘remake’ was a very experimental sort of deal.”
Lol Satyam dont tell me RGV ki aag was experimental…. while with Don and Agneepath, the actors are getting a high. atleast they are not making it a pathetic show like what bachan dis as gabbar singh.
well as long as there are ‘fans’ happy with SRK doing Don the way he did I guess there’s no problem. Bachchan fans one and all rejected Aag. It’s a question of taste I suppose!
My only point here is that RGV did a Sholay ‘remake’ in experimental terms. the experiment turned out to be a disaster but even if it hadn’t been one it would still not have been a routine sort of remake. Whereas Don and Agneepath are just shamelessly cynical attempts.
but then they mention only Don whenever they talk about bad remakes… but not aag. example- your post above. Its only when somebody reminds them how pathetic bachchan was trying to copy amjad khan that they come out saying just what you said.
you came up with a more ‘classy’ defense… that aag was an experimental film!! never heard that before… even from rgv.
Because there’s a difference between a titan like Amitabh bachchan playing Amjad Khan and pygmies like SRK playing Amitabh Bachchan! Irrespective of how legendary a role like Gabbar Singh is there is otherwise no match between the talents of Bachchan and Amjad Khan. And I have argued against remakes more than anyone else. I have argued against Bachchan’s very own original films on his own blog and those comments are reproduced here. It’s not my problem if people develop blindness all of a sudden with respect to these and only spot the SRK ones. This whole Don defense of ‘hey Don’s not too bad, look at Aag’ is utterly cynical. As a matter of fact I’d rather watch Don than Aag any day of the week but that doesn’t mean Don is a good film. That also doesn’t mean that one should be forced to attack Aag everytime Don is brought up. Specially when the purpose of each film is very different. And anyone who cannot see this with these two films is already suffering from blindness. It’s like Boom. An experiment that misfired but Boom too wasn’t trying to be ‘regular’!
And Bachchan precisely wasn’t copying Amjad Khan. That was the whole point! But again when folks like yourself who otherwise consider MNIK an art film and probably define KHNH as the height of cutting edge cinema suddenly become great defenders of Sholay and Gabbar allow me to snicker a little! As for this defense (which it wasn’t intended to be, I quite loathe Aag) being ‘classy’. Here I plead guilty — whenever Amitabh Bachchan’s name comes up one is forced to be classy. Can’t extend the same courtesy to self-proclaimed baadshahs who talk about pulling down their pants to reveal their Muslimness!
Well said, again, I could never put these thougts in words, Seriously, DON has been my ultimate fav of AB sr, along with Muqadar Ka Sikandar, Mr. Natwarlal..oops many more..and ofcourse Agneepath remake is making me cringe all the more, on Abhishek doing remakes, just like you I am glad that he is not. Let Hrithiks and Srks sons (which they will) make Abhisheks remakes when they are grown up and make films ( I BET my life they will remake Drona, in next 20 odd years Indian Cinema is gonna be all about Super Heroes just like Hollywood right now, at that time they will look for “inspirations”. BTW, they are doing away with Mithun’s character, I know you said that you didnt care much for his character in original anyway. But, always loved his character, I gues they couldnt find an actor that can do justice to what Mithun did (no rampals, or chunkey pandey’s or sanjay kapoor can pull this off – see chamchas for that clique). Royally pissed off about the Agneepath remake though. We should boycott this film, I ASK ALL BACHCAN FANS WHO LOVED AGNEEPATH TO NOT GO WATCH ANGEEPATH IN THE THATERS, WHY LET THEM MAKE MONEY AND TAG IT AS HIT, IF IT BOMBS MAYBE THESE BACHCHAN REMAKES WILL STOP. AGAIN, ALL BACHCHAN/AGNEEPATH FANS LETS BOYCOTT THE ANGEEPATH REMAKE AND NOT GO WATCH IT IN THE THEATER.
You’re perhaps right in that if one truly feels strongly about these things one should boycott the films in question. I must admit I saw Don in the theater. a weakness where I generally like to check out big releases in the theater, specially if I feel there might be a visual payoff in some sense (even where I am otherwise not interested). But again this gets the job done for the producer. Why one goes isn’t exactly important to the him (or her). So yes perhaps I should boycott Agneepath and Don 2. With the latter though ‘prison-gang Don’ seems to be such a delightful absurdity that one almost feels bad considering a boycott!
I was at my local Indian store a couple of days ago. The guy who runs it is from Ahmedabad and something of a friend and we often get into movie discussions. Anyway this guy has been on the lookout for that big Abhishek film for a long time. He clearly doesn’t care for all the ‘different’ stuff. On Bbuddah his sense was that this was the sort of thing Abhishek ought to do. My own ‘thesis’ here is that people often cannot precisely define what they want. I think if Abhishek really became ‘like’ his father in terms of doing the latter’s iconic stuff and coming up with similar performances this kind of ‘ghosting’ wouldn’t really satisfy the audiences. Nonetheless there is a gap here and this is something I’ve always argued for — there is a question of ‘Bachchan’ specters when it comes to Abhishek. What people really want is a role and film that will satisfy those aspirations. In other words Bachchan’s son must be ‘Bachchan-like’ but not as some would suggest literally so but by finding an equivalent of that signature in the present. It could be a BnB or a Sarkar or a Guru. But something that is not just about a hit or the box office but that brings through the Bachchan ‘difference’. This is why people liked him a lot precisely when he was most ‘overman’. This is true even for BM though as a box office matter the ending complicates expectations (even disappoints them). If you had the DMD guy (to use one example) doing the right kind of masala script the box office would explode. But there is (and I’ve always found this fascinating) something that stops Abhishek from going down this route. If he could produce Bbuddah for his father he could certainly produce something similar for himself and with the same budget. There are tons of Southern remakes he could do. There are other options. But he stays away from them. He might well do one if the right offer comes along on a platter (as with the Prabhudeva film, which I hope will see some life after the current Akshay venture) but he is not willing to really bring it about. The question then becomes: why this hesitation? He doesn’t have to do his father’s remakes, he could do masala generically. Even as I’ve often analyzed the ways in which his post-career has been rather ‘odd’ at many levels and even as I’ve tried to understand the box office story here as well as his ‘choices’ in many different ways the one point that cannot be missed is that he never quite produces the post-BnB ‘encounter’ that the audiences have waited for for just about forever. Even to the point of giving up on him. In an equally strange way ‘disappointment’ is not written into many of Abhishek’s films where either the most interesting projects are those the audience doesn’t like and/or doesn’t appreciate his interventions in but even where the films are liked there is something to complicate matters as with the DMD ending. So whether it’s a post-BnB thing or a post-Sarkar thing where you want the ‘son’ to finally ‘rise’ and take over and see it as such at that point the journey since has been by and large (barring Guru) one of ‘frustration’. Anyway I got into all of this because of that anecdote I presented. This is guy who liked BnB and Guru and Sarkar. He clearly does not await a Dhoom sort of deal from Abhishek though he’ll enjoy it on its own terms. He’s looking for that ‘difference’ and this is something I’ve picked up anecodotally in other contexts as well.
bachchan fans are against remakes, even if bachchan has acted in it, this is not question of aag, don, or agneepath, this is the question of lack of creativity, so many remakes in same era, this is more fault of directors than stars, they want to remain in safe zone, either they are mediocare or they want to play it safe,
yeah the difference the pygmy and the titan was so much visible in the way the audience received the two films– Don and aag. They knew very well who the pygmy was…. didnt bother to give him even 15% opening. well, the pygmy’s fans still live in a different world though
Let’s see how SRK does at 50 let alone 69! Forget in an RGV film. the real pygmies are those stars are those fans who lack even the most elementary understanding of history and/or who choose to ignore it to advance an agenda in the present by using the most asymmetric comparisons. This is kind of mindset which goes after sachin after 20 years or more in the game for not doing at the age of 38 in literal terms what a Chris Gayle can or what not.
RGV ki Aag is nothing more than a propaganda cry for many like you. Let SRK get his 100 crore grosser first, let him first match Aamir’s milestones or even Salman’s Dabanng one. Let him first get ahead of his contemporaries. Then we can talk about legends! There is nothing wrong in being a great fan of Yuvraj as long as one doesn’t confuse him with Sachin Tendulkar!
As I’ve said before the seated elephant is nonetheless taller than the standing horse! forget mules and half-breeds!
anuj, srk can not stand even nearer to big b, i agree aag was disaster, but, the you can not rate any actor or star on one particular film, srk have given dozens of hits, but amitabh is the face of indian cinema, has given many iconic performance, at even at this age he can surprise with his performance, in last decade srk has given only two memorable performance first devdas and second chak de india, and even at this age big b has given number of memorable performance in last decade, as in sarkar, black, paa, baghban, aks, khakee, dev etc. in last decade srk cannot stand nearer to aamir, right now, he is way ahead of srk, in his hey days bigb dosen’t need any marketing or publicity stunt, his name was enough to full the theatres for first 5-7 weeks, he was one man industry, against his film no one dares to release their film even after 3-4 weeks, srk is superstar, while amitabh is living legend, an institution. you see at this age when his contemptories have retired, he has been flooded with offers, even today his name interests many people, personally thinking old classics should not remade, their concepts with newer vision are more interesting and viable, rgv has made diaster while remaking sholay, but when he has used the concept of godfather with indian settings in sarkar, now sarkar is cult classic.
Will Johar Take RGV’s Punch Lying Down?
Mid-Day.com
Sunday, May 22, 2011 (Mumbai)
AND the Karan Johar-Ram Gopal Varma saga continues. After a bit of a lull, Varma has thrown in a big right hook. As Johar readies to remake Agneepath with Hrithik Roshan, Varma has not only got his dear friend Puri Jagannath to cast Amitabh Bachchan in Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap, he has also gotten his friend to name Bachchan’s character in the film, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. As one might remember Bachchan played Vijay Dinanath Chauhan in the original Agneepath. This is Telugu director Jagannath’s first film in Hindi and Varma introduced him to Bachchan.
According to a source, when it came to giving a name to Bachchan’s character in Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap, Varma suggested Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. “His name in the film is no coincidence. Everyone knows Ramu loves to provoke Karan. Karan is remaking Agneepath with Hrithik, and by naming Amitabh Chauhan, Ramu wants to draw attention to the real Vijay Dinanath Chauhan.”
Varma and Johar have had many showdowns in the past. Varma once claimed Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna was the scariest film he had ever seen. Johar, later, took a potshot at Varma, after Phoonk 2 bombed, tweeting, “I have not seen Phoonk or Phoonk 2. I am sure Phoonk 3 will not be made.” Varma then retorted on Twitter, “I’ve completed scripting Phoonk 3 and I’m planning to approach Johar to act opposite the crow.”
However, when asked about his role in naming Bachchan’s character, Varma feigned ignorance. “I am not guilty of this,” was his reply. Now we are waiting for Johar’s retaliation.
Ramu can fight, sala
Varma once claimed Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna was the scariest film he had ever seen. Johar took a potshot at Varma, after Phoonk 2 bombed, tweeting, “I have not seen Phoonk or Phoonk 2. I am sure Phoonk 3 will not be made.” Varma then retorted on Twitter, “I’ve completed scripting Phoonk 3 and I’m planning to approach Johar to act opposite the crow.”
Later, Johar tweeted, “Early morning dreams come true? I dreamt I was watching Phoonk 2 and holding RGV’s hand in fear. Is this possible?” Varma, however, was quick with his reply. “Well, I don’t know about Phoonk 2, but I’m scared of the Karan Johar hand-holding part.”
On a different note… saw Sarkar Raj again today… Thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Ab Jr. enacted the part really well! Would love to see him in these kind of roles again. Thought that Aishwariya was really good as well.
RGV has left the door open for part 3… anyone think it will be made?
sonu sood is fed up of buddah and shouts..loud “abey bhuddeh”..and buddah responce in his mind “buddah hoga tera baap”..which is a fact in the films storyline..my 2 cents!
I’m curious about Hemaji’s role here is she like the estranged wife or something? I heard Raveena is the other love interest, wonder about that angle too.
The man with midas touch for sure…laughing all the way to the bank (not to mention other international awards and such)…no wonder everyone (all other lessers “stars”) are so jealous of him!!
“almost feels bad considering a boycott!” , Did they feel bad before even considering a remake of DON? im sure not,So dont feel bad, Also, hate the fact that at some award shows, concerts etc he was getting himself introduced as DON, NOOOOOO YOU ARE NOT THE “DON” someone really needs to put this guy into his place. Same goes for the Agneepath remake, really hope Hrithik does not go around town claimiing the one and only “Vijay Denanath Chauhan” and starts mouthing the dialogues of it “intro scene especially”. If Amitabh wanted he could have done the samething with Gabbar, go around town and start mouthing kitne aadmin the etc etc, but he knows his limits that the performance that by AK was legendary, he just did his take on it, lets not steal away what Amjad khan did for sholay” really wish and hope these guys dont do that, which one of them is already doing by claiming himself to be don every now and then, talk about your characters that you played (dont they wish they were as memorable as don’s so he does not have to depend on Don”) i dont see srk talk about ANY of his characters? Does he? right, guy needs to shut up. as you all can see i am ..so frustrated with these remakes. Sorry to blast it out here and you guys at to read it. TO ALL BACHCHAN/AGNEEPATH FANS, BOYCOTT WATCHING AGNEEPATH IN THE THEATERS, WHY LET THEM CLAIM IT AS A HIT AND OPEN DOORS FOR OTHER BACHCHAN REMAKES, LETS BOYCOTT AGNEEPATH, LETS START A MOVEMENT BACHCHAN FANS”
I feel like giving you a hug right now, you took the words right out of my mouth!!! Honestly couldn’t have said it better myself! I could not stand the remake of Don, I’m sorry but SRK could not pull of either the role of or Don or Vijay properly.Lets not get into the so called “brilliant ending” which made absolutely no sense, I mean how in the world does a heavily wounded Don manage to knock out Vijay drag him into his place, learn all his mannerisms and even sing the “Khaike Paan” song is beyond me! It is honestly an absolute insult when certain people praise this pathetic excuse for a remake. I feel the same annoyance everytime SRK tries to parade as Don, there’s is only one Don and that aint you!
Like you I am completely against remakes and not just of Amitji’s movies but of any movie, it just shows what a lack of creativity directors are suffering from! I for one have no intentions of being tortured by watching Don 2 nor do I plan on watching Agneepath at the theatres so I am absolutely for this boycott!
And as a BigB fan I can honestly say that I hated Aag but atleast ABsir didn’t try to take anything away from Amjad Khan.
Hehe, Thank You filmifan, Big Hug back to you, When I said that I FINALLY found like minded site, I wasnt kidding, All you guys believe in same kind of films (its just not about bachchans), yes, we may look at it differently and take different things from a scene, song, dialougue etc, but at the endof the road. Our taste for cinema is pretty much the same (Sorry to use “our” so loosely). Hey, thats what I come out with from this site. Nice, humble peope who do take others opinions and thought respectfully. No ego hassles here. Love it here. Peace Out.
@ Kash–I agree with your remark a few comments below–that Vinod Chopra’s Kareeb is a sweet film. I think you and I are some of the few to have liked it. Haven’t seen Parinda–but have seen that VVC directed murder mystery starring Sabana Azmi and others. Watched it on tv once and liked it.
Yup, Khamoshi is a very interesting film of its time, However, It is “inspired” from a hollywood or a french film (cant recall the name). Nonetheless, Yes VVC is one of the few directors that I admire and learned a lot from. YOU HAVE TO WATCH PARINDA, I personally think its his best work.
Remakes, remixes are really showing disrespect to the originals and an effort to confuse. It is disquised as tribute. They tried to remake iconic Sangam with Sunny and Sridevi and failed miserably. Even Sridevi’s Chaalbaaz pales in comparison with Seetha aur Geetha. And the most pathetic title snatching is that of Golamal by Rohit Shetty. And now they do not even want to leave the original lie in peace making a modern version. In this way, every good movie will have to deal with copies of it. But many people loved Chaalbaaz because of Sridevi’s impeccable comic timing and also loved the pacy Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin which was a copy of It happened one night and also the subsequent Chori Chori. Raj Kapoor copied Chaplin, Dev Anand tried to copy Gregory Peck. That may be the reason why Dilip Kumar’s originality makes him the best actor of all times. He never copied, never took inspiration from anybody and became the one whom every other actor tried to copy. There are other original actors too but they Dilip Kumar stands out because of his stardom and long innings. Here I am talking about Bollywood.But there is this younger generation most of whom are completely unaware of the original. Thus SRK’s Devdas has become a hit with this generation. So there will be more remakes and more discussions in store for us. I did not expect Farhan to copy Don, even copying the songs. If he was fascinated by the subject, he could have made something original with a new version of Don. Or even with a chela or son of Don. Don may be dead, but Don’s son will still be there.
My head spinned reading about ALL those remakes. This is precisely why I liked movies like rang de basanti (to me it was VERY original movie and VERY desi movie at that). I like all vidhu vinod chopra movies e.g. eklavya where you see a very different bigb supported by superb star cast, excellant story/plot with suspence, good acting and very ethnic/desi stuff. maybe we need more chopras in hindi cinema and more movies like eklavya!
agreed, Like you Vinod Chopra being one of my favs from the current crops of dir, However he is getting a little over the top, his older films were much much better, fav being parinda and Kareeb ( i know you mentioned somewhere you didnt like it – I think its the sweetest and honest romantic films of our times. – Just my opinion)
Oh you took it to the heart? I was just KIDDING, If I do remember correctly, I did apologize if i had went out of line, It was all in good context. Again, My apologies if you still feel otherwise.
It is amusing that Don is getting so much prestige value. The real Don sitting in Pakistan must be feeling elated and his heart must be swelling with pride. Even God will never get this type of fame. Kalyug baba Kalyug. Criminals are deified by bollywood and media. Glamourisation of crime. Future generations will have one more option of making their parents proud by becoming Dons. Who would not like to have that exotic and dangerous lifestyle? But one has to start from scratch. Icing on the cake is that most of our politicians are turning out to be white collared Dons or part time ones. Be proud to be a Don. The three letter word itself is cute, compact and fearsome. Girls will be dreaming that an attractive man wearing dark expensive glasses flying in an expensive private jet land in front of them and carry them away to exotic locales to be partner in high class crimes. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge style.
I would also like to know how SRK and his fans would feel when some younger star decides to remake his DDLJ’s and KKHH’s a few years down the line! i’m sure they won’t e too thrilled!
On a side note: each gopika has her own krishna (during the raas lila) signifying that each atma has its paramatma…we don’t need to SHARE!!! Awesome concept naa. I love all things “hindu”. Still amazes me to no end the concepts that were introduced in this “religion” by thinkers where debates were ENCOURAGED and expected! The whole Bhagwad Gita I find VERY revolutionary.
Yep…they covered it ALL…from in-vitro fertilization, multiple husbands, gender bending drag queen (arjun), outside the womb fertilization of eggs, aeroplanes….on and on. In fact it is claimed that every discovery ever to be made (in future) is already covered in MB e.g. cloning.
Or there is nothing that is not already there in MB. Interesting no!
made your day no…now you can have (w) dreams…hahahha. Since you haven’t seen the faces, you will imagine bollywood or tollywood actresses….hahahahahha!
@IAMTHAT:
Yes. Movies, reading, vermicomposting/gardening, kids, Shrimad Bhagwad Gita (not in that order) interest me a lot among other things
Very interesting info on the book.
My relative wrote a book “I am that”….what is the author of your book? I like “autobiography of a yogi” a lot. Unfortunately the “organisation” hijacked this great yogi (and his works) in a very nasty/commercial way. Sad but expected.
Yes…yes…googled it. I am BIG fan of advaitha philosophy…aham brahmasmi…named my child on it
I LOVE Swami Vivekananda, Adi Shankara (for me he was Lord Shiva himself in this universe)…these great giants in the world of spirituality/humanity. I LOVE P.P Pandurang Shastriji as well (it is advaitha INTO action for mordern times), H.H.Chinmayananda, DLS Swami Shivananda…just awesome guides Bhagwan sent for us. TO me advaitha boils down to: your pain is my pain. your happiness is mine. In your hurts/pains/dukh, I too am hurt. That there is no difference bet. you and I. In that you and I merge. I think ultimate compassion would flow from a human being who would imbibe such a philosophy (no?). That is why the hugging saint (maa Amritanandji) has so much “power”. She wants to (literally) take your pain away and GIVE, GIVE, GIVE. In doing so, THEY merge with the supreme and become completely divine. Otherwise WHY on earth people will want a hug, cry afterwards and get so moved. It is divine hug itself. So much to ponder. So much to imbibe. So much to progress.
Spiritually speaking I already have found “it” and happy with it. But will definately read this book as I have heard about this book (and swamiji) in the satsangs I go to. Whenever someone wants to “convert” me (read jevohah’s witness on the door steps), I tell them “what is conversion for already converted”. I already am sold on vendanta/advaitha philosophy…I think its WTG.
Now let me go order this book.
The best thing abt book is you are not going to find any names of God or this fellow said this or that or this book or that book…He just passsed away 3 decades back and was living in Red light area of mumbai being a tabacco seller… completely illiterate and WHAT HE SAYS BELWS ONE”S MIND… Often quoted by most Scientists in west.. little info
Beauty is in the eye of beholder. For a faithful one like me…I totally enjoyed/understood the book and loved it. He even explains (in bits) christianity from a hindu standpoint. He interpreted mystycism (sp?) of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat….I think he is one awesome dude! One of my other “guru” even interpreted Shakespeare and used to hold debate or discussion on some works of literature. From my standpoint, adds to awesomeness of the “guru”!
I know its personal so no more from my side… But I still feel they all went west only when ground was prepared by Gr8 Swami Vivekanda.. He is MY HERO. Have u read Raman Maharishi?? or know abt him
1- Hail Amitabh. He is the best and biggest star ever graced cinema either BW or HW. Al pachino comes second. (Big B even gave pachino a SCARE on his FACE by blowing a knockout punch called AGNIPATH)
2- Abhishek is the pest star/actor of this generation. Aamir is distant second. (Though some fools say Abhishek hasn’t gave any solo superhit)
3- Aishwarya is the best. Better then madhuri. In Grace Ash>Madhubala. In Acting only Jaya Ji > Ash.(Thuough some jealous call her Miss Ice, Miss Plastic Face and Miss Giggle queen.)
4- Expect RGV ki Aag every bachchan movie a a masterpiece and multi layered but indian audience fail to understand that.
5- The whole world conspire againest Bachchans. Always Try to pull them down. They even include a hit, like DMD, in flop list.
6- Amitabh Dominated the bollywood for 2 decade(1970-1990)
7- SRK is a pygmy infront of Big B.
8- There is no place for SRK in BW history. SRK=Rajendra Kumar. Even in last 2 decade History of BW remember SRK as Footnote. Salman and Aamir are miles ahead of SRK.
9- Amitabh in AGNIPATH and BLACK is the pinnacle of acting and SRK in MNIK is hemfest.
10- Every thing that is bad in BW has been originated from a palace called MANNAT where a self appointed KING lives.
I am a true bachchan fen and i whole heartidly agree with all 10 commandment quote above and i want to add something on point no 8.
“There is no place for SRK in BW history. SRK=Rajendra Kumar” SRK also know that. That is why
1- He Bought Bennett-Coleman & co. that’s why TOI is publishing positive stories of SRK since 20 years. And also Filmunfair magzine gave him 8 Best actor trophy.
2- He also bought all india’s ecectronic and print media that is why he gets away even after commiting so many mistakes.
3- TIME and NEWSWEEK also bought by SRK. That is why sometime They include SRK in the 50 most influentel person of the world.
4- He Sponsered Nasreen munni kabir and Anupama chopra to write a book on him and make documentries.
5- He sponsered Travel and living channal to make a TV series on him called LIVING WITH A SUPERSTAR .
6- He even tried to bribe Madam tussad musim managment but they didn’t fell trap in his web. That is why here SRK came after Amitabh and Aishwarya Bachchan. Hail Bachchans.
“Salman and Aamir are miles ahead of SRK”
Completly agree. After all SRK hasn’t cross 100 cr yet and Aamir crossed it twice and salman once.
This is pricise reason why i think Sehwag is better test player then Tendulkar. Tendulkar hasn’t cross 250 in test but sehwag crossed 250 barriar many times. He even crossed 300 two time. Damn the fact that sachin is consistently perfmorming since 2 decade. Sehwag crossed 300 in test 2 time so sehwag is better test player then tendulkar. That is why i say salman and aamir are ahead of SRK. Damn the fact that SRK was and is always remain in top 3 in past 2 decade. But we live in present and It is not every day you cross 100 and 200 cr.
While I can understand your anguish, you have to give it to SRK for starting this oneupmanship game in the first place. And media is more to blame in this respect. They made him, king, badshah etc. The media needs someone from movie industry and cricket world to latch on. Now we are having news channels which are wearing so many hats. The truth is Big B and SRK are good friends and Abhishek and SRK bond very well. While the biggies benefit from all sorts of publicity, positive or negative, we common people are trying to win arguments.We must become less passionate and more reasonable.
“We must become less passionate and more reasonable”
Totally agree (AGAIN) with ya on this one. I find it completely foolish on part of fans to indulge in all this “time waste” activity. If you read the book of Anupama Chopra on SRK (A ROYALLY BADLY WRITTEN BOOK…Even I can do better book than that), then SRK totally looked up to bigb all his life. But I did find him “cocky” on KWK show where he interviewed bigb. However his usp is “attitude” and one doesn’t need to be “humble” or “spineless”. Its OK to have attitude in life. It is poor guys defence mechanism because he is an orphan and all that.
Maybe the people who were at top don’t like coming down and seeing others on top.
Who knows. Who cares.
Only movies. Only movies count not the personal S..T.
I dont know why these journalists waste their time on Coffee Table Books Which are nothing but pr works. Now how can we expect impartial reviews from Chopra? As it is every review has some personal agenda and that is why better to take these reviews with a pinch of salt. When the films they bash become hits and when the films they praise become flops, these critics realise the power of the actual movie going public. They cannot influence the public all the way.
LOL.
Time for you to take your Lithium and crawl back into your hole.
I know you will come first. Thank you because u didn’t said anything about my english. Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha..
Kabhi-Kabhi thoda fun bhi hona chahiye. You can say anything to me i don’t mind because you know ki “***** chalte rehte hain and ***** ****** rehte hain.
@dimps &vatikala
See I am also a fan of amitabh bachchan. I know what he had done between 1975-1985. He was unmatched at that period and it is impossible for anyone to five so many Hits, superhits, BB an ATBB.But i am aganist this star worship be it sachin or amitabh. No one can deny there place in history and what they did in thier respective field. My only issue is BW main Big B ke alawa doosre log bhi the, hai or rehange. At the same Team india main sachin ke alawa doosre bhi hain. I mean if i say that Anil kumble and sehwad won more test for india then don’t treat this as blasphemy. Big B bade actor hain. Sachin bada player hai. But to prove thier greatness don’t dwarf others. if someone wants respect to his/her fav star he/she should respect to other star also. waise bhi Big B bade ho ya SRK hamian kya fark padta hai ? Hamin ye kuch dene wale to hain nahi inka PR karne ki liye.
Well there’s no problem as long as there is no basic denial of the facts. When you see people making silly claims about SRK do you call them out? I think not! And it makes a very big difference to any argument when the ‘facts’ become questionable.
But also (and I address your Kumble/Sehwag claim here without getting into the specifics) I have always been very fond of this ancient Greek insight where the word ‘pseudos’ (false) did not just refer to the ‘lie’ but also a ‘truth’ that was used deceptively. In other words if ‘facts’ can be used selectively or misleadingly to generate all kinds of conclusions. Which is why contexts matter. So for example you just mentioned Bachchan was at the top between ’75-’85. This is quite inaccurate. Bachchan’s rise began with Zanjeer and continued through ’74 and was finally cemented in ’75. But till he left for politics in ’86 he was completely unchallenged. However even when he returned in ’88 and had a number of disappointing results by his lofty standards he was still by far getting the biggest initials around and all the way upto 1992. These are the ‘facts’. However when we contextualize these we discover that the decline has really begun in this four year period. Compare this with SRK for example where actually over the past ten years he has not necessarily had the biggest initials or the biggest grossers (so for example whenever Hrithik got together with his father he generally had the biggest grosser, then we had Aamir grossing the most doing ‘different’ or of course over the last 2-3 years it’s a different ballgame altogether.. for some years now SRK has been far even on the initials..).
So two moves emerge here. First the effort to keep Bachchan’s reign to a minimum. Or to use arguments like ‘what does it matter?’. Well if it doesn’t to you why do you even bother to argue?! But also within those period very different standards are used to compare stars. No contextualizing is done. So on and so forth. Here of course I dispute even the ‘facts’ but even if I didn’t I would find a certain usage questionable.
Similarly with Sachin. We can have all sorts of debates. The question however is: why is the debate always framed in a certain way that ‘denies’ Sachin something. I’ve had this argument with others too. One can keep selecting a set of ‘facts’ that deconstruct him while never selecting those that illustrate his ‘difference’. Or one can pay lip service to his ‘greatness’ while constantly undercutting it in specific debates. Leaving aside the whole question of ‘how’ a player’s contribution to a team sport is judged which is by no means obvious to me.
Again I just point to these two examples because these often come up. And I could expand on all of these. But there has to be an ethics of discussion. If one is going to keep questioning Shakespeare the other side will be obliged to illustrate his uniqueness. You can’t then say that the Shakespeare-supporters are being ‘bullies’ trying to silence everyone else. As long as one recognizes Bachchan’s ‘event’ there’s no issue. But if one wants to overreach and pretend stars today are doing as well or better well this kind of propaganda will then have to be ‘checked’. So don’t pull that ‘hey what does it matter?’ card here after clearly proving that a lot matters to you and you too have a specific agenda. To say that there are others on the team other than Sachin is frankly a preposterously absurd claim in its obviousness. Who denied this?! Whoever said the team doesn’t count? But how come this ‘team equation’ doesn’t come into the debate when Sacin is judged to be a match-winning player or not? Why does one not consider that for most of his peak period he played on a poor Indian team that wasn’t going to beat any strong opposition most days? Here why doesn’t anyone say ‘its not only him, it’s also the team’?! So note how this works — when others have to be given credit suddenly it’s about the team, when it’s Sachin then it’s never about the team in the same way! Again another example of how facts can be used selectively or the very same logic used in subtly different ways to produce opposite results. It’s like those who suddenly see multistarrers when Abhishek is in them but who conveniently ignored all of the same when SRK was in them. Or those who think Bachchan is a massive star when he works with Abhishek but not so when he works with SRK!
Again these are all examples even if admittedly privileged ones. But these illustrate the bait and switch that often goes on.
I love the bachchan phenomenon but not just because he is a movie star and actor par excellance. It is other things that he has that makes him so “rich”. In that dept. NO ONE can beat him. Success comes and goes. Money comes and goes. You may be the earth’s best actor and never get kudos or mass adulation. The other aspects of bachchan (Bigb here) makes him stalwart, head and shoulders above the rest (for me) and personally I believe it is those aspects of him that added so much to his performance….having gone thro’ poverty in life (which he describes so often in his blog) he could play a coolie with conviction…he could bring that angst….others to play such part, spend time on station as coolie …to get into the skin of the character…but Bigb probably already knew and understood. He is like that old wine that gets better with age. I sometime feel sad that indian cinema is not enough to exploit his talents!
Re: Thank you because u didn’t said anything about my english.
Need I say anything? LOL.
Re: We must become less passionate
Sorry, I know no other way!
On a serious note, I dont take pleasure in trashing people but I do feel obliged to slap around trolls who come here to comment with agendas. If someone wishes to make substantial contribution ( SERIOUS OR OTHER WISE ), feel free to comment. When one sees this kind of behaviour, I think it ought not to be tolerated.
There is a difference between personal preference and an agenda. This is again something that people either do not see or pretend not to see. If I like Laxman more than Sachin that’s fine as long as I don’t start asserting that he’s greater than Sachin. The latter is not a debatable point. One could of course say one preferred Laxman stylistically or certain strokes of his or what have you. But the overall judgment that he is greater than Sachin would be absurd. What if however I am such a Laxman fan that I actually have a problem precisely with that basic fact? That sachin is greater? Here I then start manipulating the ‘facts’ to arrive at either different conclusions or else to always ‘change the subject’. So I could say ‘yes yes Sachin’s the greatest… BUT I really love Laxman’s wristy touch, I really admire how destructive Sehwag can be.. ‘so on and so forth. This is how things can be manipulated.
With Abhishek I have never really forced anyone to accept my views on him as an actor or as star (potential or otherwise). Of course I have accounted for the ‘facts’ over the years for those who have eyes to read (!) but ultimately that is my opinion. Whether I write essays on this or whatever should not bother anyone. But all the objections not to mention the violence with which these views have been greeted suggest precisely the opposite. Much like those partisans who say that Abhishek is completely finished with every failure (of course what’s there to ‘finish’ here when according to the same folks he’s no one to begin with?!) only to return with greater energy when there’s a new release!
The whole idea that I am somehow just being pro-Bachchan(s) all the time is for those who say this either a delusion or a lie. Probably the latter. Why? Because those who’ve seen enough of me over the years ought to have seen how often I have disagreed with Bachchan on his own blog or how often I have even argued against some ‘classics’ of his. So evidently I am encouraging some sort of cult here but doing exactly the opposite on his blog. This does not even make elementary sense. What happens is that people come up with absurd claims to support their favorite stars and when I argue against them I am dubbed the ‘fanatic’! In other words if you actually argue responsibly you’re the extremist. If you just throw around ridiculous claims that betray your lack of understanding of the basic facts or at least your partisanship (probably both) you’re ok! It’s like the whole box office deal where people just throw out numbers without any explanation and any specifics and have a ‘take it or leave it’ approach. If you then pick apart those numbers systematically you supposedly have an agenda! These are not good faith arguments but about ‘name-calling’.
This is why i like to interact with you. You never lost your cool. Now i am giving some facts why i said amitabh’s dominence yer was 1975-1985. I am cut and pasting someones comment. but these are facts.
Dominant Actors***
This time new younsters like Jacky Shroff, Sanjay Dutt & Sunny Deol were rising withtheir successful movies.
1985-1988 – 1. Mithun Chakraborthy & Dharmendra
Now all Dharmendra,Jeetendra Big B & Mithun were overtaken by Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor ,Sanjay Dutt & Jacky Shroff.
1988-1992 belongs to Deol,Dutt,Kapoor & Shroff. But during this time two other actors made a huge debut and created a lot of popularity those were Aamir Khan & Salman Khan.
90-92 – Aamir Khan,Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor
Amitabh was only star who was giving atleast one hit during this time.
1992-1993 – 1. Shahrukh Khan,Govinda then Aamir & Salman…. Shahrukh Khan created huge popularity and gained numero uno in terms of popularity while AT BO both govinda & Srk were no.1 .
Now after 1992 – Amitabh downfall started and it remained till 2000.
1994 – Now star who made debut in 1991 being popular since time of 1992 made a great comeback in 1994 after bad 1993. Gained huge popularity & became no.1 alongwith salman. He was Akshay Kumar.
Akshay became numero uno by overtaking all other actors till june 1995.
One correction ….. Amitabh was number 1 from 1975 to 1992 …. There was no one near to him in this period .. From 1975-1986 .. He had only three real flops (Alaap, Jurmana and Faraar) … and from 1987-1992 .. His flops did more business than many superhits … Even Ganga Jamuna Saraswati and Toofan did 1.25 Crore per territory business which was more than super hits of contemporaries … Heck even in 1994 .. Insaniyat managed to open 100% in first week and SRK’s Anjaam in that year was opened to 78% after hiatus success of Darr and Bazigarr .. this was magic of amitabh ..
Only 3 real flops from 61 movies in 13 years .. No one can achieve this in one lifetime .. leave about 13 years ..
Actually, and this can be corroborated, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan had a bigger first week than KKHH. Both released on the same day and Bachchan won, in spite of Mrityudaata, Lal Baadshah and other such turkeys.
yes that’s quite right. And in fact even as late as 1997 Yash Chopra didn’t want to release DTPH the same day as Lal Baadshah. The latter did much better than Mrityudaata incidentally in the sense that it was ok in some parts of the North.
and this was the thing about bachchan. His flops would quite literally be superhits for any other star. And even as his hit to flop ratio is stunning even more remarkable is the fact that you only have about half a dozen films or so for almost a 20 year period that actually lost money! And this is something that is hard to understand for many today. The numbers and the records still cannot give one an adequate sense of how things were when it was the age of Bachchan. It wasn’t about a dominant star or even the most dominant star. It was an event that transcended even the numbers. The only other such moment in Hindi cinema was for the few years that Rajesh Khanna was on top. And hence lists that suggest Bachchan was # 1, someone else (whoever!) was # 2 and so on are so completely beside the point. Because Bachchan was an industry unto himself. He really didn’t have competition at all. There was Bachchan and then there was a list of others. Even major stars like Dharmendra looked very diminished in the age of Bachchan. The anti-Bachchan media even in those days would regularly nominate other stars and so forth but there was never a contest. His box office track record for those 20 years or so is still the most remarkable such story in any film industry that at least I am aware of. and here you had not only a megastar but also a great actor.
The other phenomenon that strikes me as being very singular for different reasons is that of the two Ms (Mohanlal and Mammootty) in Malayalam cinema. Here you have two stars who’ve dominated their industry more or less for a quarter of a century and who for a long part of that period were the industry appearing in a very high number of films every single and who today despite age catching up (and/or bad decisions in the case of Mohanlal) and some degree of competition (stars who are big but who don’t quite have their staying power.. Dileep earlier, Prithvi now..) are nonetheless irreplaceable even today and not just this but they continue to set some of the box office benchmarks with the right films. and it’s not like Rajnikant where you have a film every couple of years that is designed as the biggest event around. These stars still do multiple films and often in very varied subjects and still maintain their draw.
Very True .. Boxoffice Domination + Classics Movies for over 20 years .. this feat is hard to achieve for anybody .. Amitabh has given 61 Hits between 1973-1986 .. This is more than SRK + Aamir + Salman + Saif Ali Khan + Akshay combined Hits for over 20 years … This was power of bachchan .. He was not one man industry for nothing ..
Satyam .. Can you post above link as separate post here ??
I have no problem if someone like anyone. I have my own choices. I am not a bachchan hater. It is just when people don’t see beyond theie fav star it gets into my nerve. Again if you want to know what bachchan haters think about him. take a look at it. height of hate.
1) BigB is an old and worn out actor who has fizzed out 20 yrs ago.
2) He has bankrupt many producers.
3) His son has bankrupt ALL the producers with whom he has worked with.
4) The collective reduction of BW wealth by Bachchan family is MUCH MORE than their collective addition.
5) At present he is nothing but a skeleton of his former self. He is doing movies after movies only to save some money for his good for nothing (Nakara) son, nothing else.
Amir Khan gets 300 cr+ BO
OR
SRK has great BO since 90′s.
Irrespective of the above, two people are very popular in the whole India from villages to metros, Sachin and Amitabh. Their popularity was unmatchable even with so called big BO success.
Particularly, Amir is almost unknown in villages. SRK to some extent exist because of lady audience.
you may never see another Amitabh mania. Why are you bringing Abhishek in to this/ Leave him alone!
Nice posting Alex…no news on ajitabh..wasn’t he supposed to write a book and bigb was quite unhappy about it. I never read anything about ajitabh in any of bigb’s blogs either…maybe he doesn’t want to share…
Stop comparing media hyped starts to Real SuperStars like Amitabh. Let us not argue on that part (Amitabh was the last superstar of bollywood).. now everything is marketing. promote your proudct for one year, spending more than a prod cost of the movie!! are today’s real superstarts… ask any so called Super Star to BAN the media (hype) for a decade / forget atleast for an year. they will come to the real meaning of DON…. Mark my words , even Abhishek OR IMran OR RAnbir give two or three consecutive super hits… their next product will be marketed in a way like all previous BO records will collapse but that will never ever make them AB!! to be very honest, the only bollywood star who is close to the super Star word is Salman (thanks, atleast he has some genuine super star attitude)
Agreed, Also at the time when AB was a superstar, he was banned from all magazines and newspapers, So he made it and stayed at the top without any help or PR from the media. He was and is the true superstar made by people. Famous line from Rangeela “Apun public hai public, Jiske picture mein apna paisa vasool nahian, uska dabba gul”. And the public has spoken and how for AB without any media help. He was never a self proclaimed superstart, Unlike SRK. For gods sake the guy is so pathetic that he was talking crap about a 11 yr old boy (Darsheel) when he was nominaated for Best Actor against him in TZP. Do we need to say more, how self proclaimed this guy really is? with his 20 chamchas around?
Shivakumar agree on the Salman part in your comment.
Big B was and is unmatched phenomena of Indian screen but he is past his prime and cannot evoke much response among moviegoers so its time to move on and accept changing times and realities.
“the seated elephant is nonetheless taller than the standing horse! forget mules and half-breeds!”
or this from Julius Caesar:
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Amitabh bachchan has gracefully accepted that his prime has gone past Msdhoni that is the reason why he is being reasonable in making the movie withing there budget of 10-12 cr so that at least it wont be loss to everyone associated with the movie.. but the people or media who hate him make news like this only to show that he is big even now and his movie are failing!!! all this propaganda off haters and media..
The sensible outlook in making of films today .. controlled budgets !! ..’Bbuddah -Hoga tera Baap’ complete in 10.5 cr . BHTB film in profit before release due to cost control .. Satellite sold for 13.5 cr .. cost covered before release !! Well done Puri,’ he tweeted.
Of course not that the trade will notice! Paa was a straight hit/superhit in trade terms but they pretended otherwise. The media called it a hit right away. The trade never went along.
See the links posted on Amitabh—
I think I’ve had enuf….
Want the clean shaven Amitabh back …
The “goatee” is past its expiry date.
Also want him to get rid of his dodgy glasses- go for contact lenses or refractive surgery…
His eyes are a major component of his appeal and connect– still!!
And that anti mongoloid slant of eyes….
yep. Old is gold. you cannot market that old magic in an old body. In fact this would be perfect opportunity to introduce junior b. Story line should be something like bigb’s character dies and junior comes to take revenge (godfather types)…and it should be superbly made…it will be a hit! Then bigb can keep on coming in multiple flashbacks…you know.
Satyam, I read all your suggestions to promote Buddah…
The biggest advertisement is the star himself. It is silly to expect him to do utterly gimmicky things like wearing various get ups.
Actually he should invite some 100 people, not necessarily his fans for a preview and ask their suggestions and see their reactions. And he should introduce some youth element to attract the young crowd as well. Instead of dancing with half naked nameless goris ala Karan Johar style, he could have a dance number either with Katrina or Priyanka.
yep…personally I feel, if movie has already recovered costs and is now in profit margin (BEFORE release mindyou) then Y worry about numbers (number 1, 2 etc). I mean, I wouldn’t waste money on advertisements….movie toh aisey hi chalegi. Standard stuff…like…ads should be done. Satyam’s ideas (some of them) seems bit far-fetched dreams of a crazy fan…LOL…I am guilty of it too…so I can understand!
It’s not far-fetched actually.. consider the whole thing Aamir did for 3I showing up in different parts of India with all the clues and so on. The TMK audio launch was on a train. So all kinds of things happen. I am suggesting doing things that would tie in with the theme that they themselves started out with.
Why not he is coming in Good budget mega flick ?? Ask bugB to shave off beard and do masala movie in intense action role(Something like HUM or Khakee) .. success is guaranteed ..
Please put all this concern to Amitabh in his blog, your words will immediate seek attention ..
I sometimes wonder if those gimmicks really work. Lets see what he comes up for DB (farting toilets). I think it may “open” the movie with some audience but if movie is not good, woh nahi chalegi. Bigb has a chip on the shoulder…and he SHOULD do publicity but not go crazy on it and spend too much money on it (it takes away from the profit). If people like what they see, they will go see it AGAIN…and if they don’t like it, no matter the publicity, people won’t go see again. 3I had LOT of repeat audience. So had dabaang. It is that that makes a hit into a super-hit…old timer are waiting to go see the movie….so maybe target the younger audience…spend advertising money on them. If almost 70 year old hero movie becomes a hit, then THAT would be in itself quite a record!!!
Every time this type of thing may not work. There will be deja vu feeling. Ultimately, the content of the movie matters along with WOM and some critical acclaim. The fate of Mangal Pandey is a good example. Even DB is not inspiring enough because of Imran Khan’s presence.
It is always the content that works. The ‘gimmicks’ are just meant to create a bigger initial. On the ‘old wine in a new bottle’ isn’t this precisely what people want in this instance?! As for getting reactions from his fans and so on the film is now complete. The content can’t be changed at this point.
- It seems rushed sacrificing quality.
- Too much emphasis on ‘getting our investment back’! AB Corp and Amitabh should be publicising the film not its recovery! I have said it before – beyond a certain ‘number’ audience doesn’t care how big a hit it is. It’s the content…
- AB Corp did ‘Paa’ calling itself a ’boutique production house’ – this is not boutique stuff.
Seriously serious. But love serious gossip. Juicy will always welcome amidst all the dryness. i feel sorry for Bachchan who has to deal with all the childish plans that will pour till the release of his movie. And he has to thank them, be polite. Dimps, any suggestions from you? Out of the box type?
@satyam
>Unfortunately for you as a SRK fan Oldgold I am not so confused about all of this.
Please stop trivialising my opinion by harping on about SRK. I’ve ignored your attempts at trying to gleefully ‘trump’ my opinion by using your anti SRK card, because I’m not going to get defensive here, and go off a tangent with SRK discussion (which is what you’re aiming at).
My point is the remake/copy of Don and that’s it.
I’m debating this just on principles that criticising a copy of the copy is baseless – even if the copy was great.
I think it will not stop here. A 5th Don will be made with another top actor of the next generation.
Bachchan records India’s first ‘Acapella’ track for Bbuddah
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, May 27, 2011 – 14:35 IST
The superstar creates a new record by singing the title track of his forthcoming film Bbuddah – Hoga Terra Baap in ‘Acapella’ style – a first ever in India!
For those who are new to the concept, Acapella music is a solo or a group vocal or singing without any instrumental sound. Interestingly, music directors Vishal – Shekhar had been planning to do something unique with Mr. Bachchan since quite sometime and they came up with the idea of using the acapella style to create a memorable number for Bbuddah. When the duo approached Mr Bachchan with this suggestion, they were in for a pleasant surprise when the actor immediately agreed to do it!
Music director, Shekhar Ravjiani, elaborated, “We wanted to try something new with this song. We did the basic setup and then Mr. Bachchan replaced every track with his voice. He recreated the sounds of approximately 10 to 12 instruments, from drum to bass to the snare to the chorus. In a nut shell, he did everything required to make a song!”
A source from the film says, “Given Mr. Bachchan’s multi-talented persona, it is no surprise that he took this challenge up very sportingly and was very excited about doing something new. He gave his best and the result is for everyone to see. Every sound you hear in the title track is created by Mr. Bachchan himself! This is the first time that the ‘Acapella’ style of singing has been used in Indian cinema and we owe it to Mr. Bachchan for introducing us to something so unique!”
Produced by Viacom18 & AB Corp, Bbuddah – Hoga Terra Baap is written & directed by Puri Jagannadh and also stars Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon, Sonu Sood, Sonal Chauhan, Southern actress Charmi & Prakash Raj.
Scarves, jazzy shirts, designer denims, branded glares and two watches. Yes, two watches it is for the uber cool Amitabh Bachchan in Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap, produced by AB Corp and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures. As the title of the film suggests, attitude is all and so Bachchan Sr. is putting his personal touch to his character.
Known for his fondness for wrist watches, Bachchan turned up on the set on the first day of the Bbuddah shoot wearing two watches.
Director Puri Jagannadh loved Bachchan’s wackiness and immediately suggested that his main man wear two watches throughout the movie, which would go with his flamboyant and stylish character. Needless to say, Bachchan was more than happy to mix his personal style with his on-screen persona.
Bbuddah will see him return as the angry old man with a quirky sense of style. But for that, you’ll have to wait till July 1.
@ Satyam, I am adding a strategy for promotion of BBuddah, If you can please get it across to AB Corp, I know you have a better reach to then then any of us, AB does recognize your name and Im sure he reads your post. And, I personally think this is helleva an idea to be ignored. So if you can please do the honors for me, I would greatly appreciated.
To promote Buddah for the Single screen audience and the front benchers, I would suggest that they show AB srs old movies like, Amar Akbar Anthony, Namak Halal, Sholay, Deewar etc on the Streets of Mumbai and other towns (Like they did in old days, I have seen many like that). Target, South Mumbai and some suburbs, This will defintely fetch a decent amount of audience (I think) Also, add buddah promos in the beginning and maybe a long preview of the movie. Also, it works in a way they are promoting like bring Old angry man back just like that, they are showing his old movies on the streets like they did in old days. What you say? ALL bachchan fans and ofcourse to satyam, I think it will be a great idea. See if you all can reach out to him and make this happen. It will be a big plus for promotional activities and hands down beat out any strategy that AK has. What you all think?
No Not talking about re releasing in any thaters, This is really on the streets of bombay, with a projector and a big screen tied to maybe between 2 buildings and or trees, They did this in the 80s during the festive season (Like ganesh utsav/garba/holi etc) so the whole maulah/complex can enjoy the movies for free.
I know its easily availableon tv etc..But its an experience to watch it on the streets like old days, it will be something new for the new generation too, that hey we did this back in the days, grows curiosity factor for them as well, also people who were there can reminisce their times, Not sure if you experienced this, But anyone from Mumbai or any other cities experienced this? wanna help me out on what I am trying to say? Maybe I am not coming across correctly.
The thing is what’s the ‘source’ of the projector? If it’s film, which can be blown up like – in a drive-in – it can only be possible at nights (that’s why cinema’s dark)…
If the source is ‘digital’ – like a dvd – the ‘blown up’ screen would look pretty pixelated. It doesn’t have the res. of the film.
Thanks offside, these movies were shown only @ night times lets say anywhere after 9 ish, or after the Aarti /Pujas were done, on lets say the last days of navratri or ganesh utsav they would show it in the middle of the streets at night, and the people would sit on the streets (yes on the streets) and watch it from both side of the screen. and we as kids would be in the middle of the screen to view it from two side, like when bachchan would punch a bad guy with a left on teh other side it would be his right hand. that was the fun part for me as a kid that is. boy those were fun days.
Well on a serious note, I am shaking my head vigorously…if I am maker of a product and SME on it, it shouldn’t be my responsibility to market it, send it to end users and make sure that the product is well consumed.
How can you be a consummate artiste, improve your acting, keep working on better projects while you also have to do Voice blogging (I can understand twitter and blog writing), doing endorsements…on and on and on. Should making money and more and more and more be the be all and end all goal of life? How can a human being stay grounded admist all this? How can you have semblence of real life and enjoyment of it if in pursuit of happiness, happiness is forgotten and pursuit is all that you remember. In my personal life, I never look at my peers and emulate what THEY are doing or how they are conducting their lives. I don’t care what SRKs and Aamirs of this world is doing…I am bigb and I will not worry about all this marketing-sharketing…my work itself speaks for itself (and this is bigb’s inner most thoughts as well). I mean sure do some effective marketing but don’t worry so much about #1 spot; he already has recovered the cost and already making profits (since it is solidly low budget movie) by sale of the rights of the movie to tv channel (accor. to his tweet)…so why worry? Anyhow these types of thoughts are utopian…maybe not grounded in real world. But if time is running out in life and age is catching up then focus, focus, focus on doing great acting works and leaving legacy that way and not waste it on “lets add a romantic song here”…in doing so, you are not being true to yourself…such are my thoughts. Please don’t kill me for it….
One can go overboard with publicity if thinks that content is really very good, i mean just like you endorse only those products which you think is good and should be used by consumer, same way you should do only those movies which you think will be excellent and paying public will get their money back .. it should be worth their ticket price .. If one is making movie for personal interest, then there is no need to release movie in theater. Audience started get away from audience when their movies don’t give back their money for sufficient period of time. So please, do only those movies which you think is worth doing .. and paying public will enjoy !!
Now back to publicity, before release, only you can decide if movie is actually worth endorsement or not, if you feel movie is bad enough, don’t let it release at first place.
And if you feel movie is really exciting .. Then you can go overboard with publicity .. because Marketing only motive is to make public aware of movie and details. If publicity content is good enough, it will reach to larger audience automatically .. no need to spread all round.
My advice is : First focus on quality of promos and movie. Sound quality was bad for first look and graphics was bad too for posters. So please ensure of these two things. If you release really entertaining promo in market, it will reach to masses automatically …
“yep…bachchans still got it….”
Well–it is a given that Bachchan’s still got it.
IN this film and scenario, though, i feel, it is a bit late in the day maybe, even for Bachchan.
It would have been an ideal film even at the BnB stage, till about 5 years ago.
But here, somehow the age and body language show intermittently.
Bachchan deserves credit for still carrying off this sort of over the top persona at 70!!
Anyhow, i will be more than happy to be surprised if sr bachchan carries it off well.
Also, still not convinced that the producers could not find ANY date to avoid clashing with a major release like DB..
PS2–Still to see an emotional/ pseudosubstance track here, which is crucial needed to give these multiplex folks a “reason” to like this film!! A plain nostalgic spoof will work but not beyond a point….
THe movie is for the fans…just like Rajni’s present movies are for its fans…age doesn’t matter…its not like he (bigb or rajni) have to go win audience…they already have the audience’s love….so the movie rocks. In real life, both bigb/rajni are bald men with poor eyesight (imagine 70 year old people) and onscreen they are still worshipped…so nothing else matters for us the fans…right?
the one crucial difference though is that Rajni’s base is still ‘everyone’ because he’s maintained it or kept feeding it with the image they want and these days of course he does a film once in a while and it’s hyped like an event. Bachchan walked away from his megastar image a longtime back. And though he is in many ways more transcendent than ever and he too has ‘everyone’ as his fan not everyone will show up for his films. Because that link with the ‘history’ has been severed. The question now is that with this kind of ‘throwback’ film how many are interested? Which is why the gross of this film is very hard to predict. I could see a scenario for it doing 25 crores, I could also see one for it doing 50 crores. And it’s not about how good/bad the film is. We just don’t know who’s showing up. And here doing it like a ‘comedy’ essentially is wise because if he had done the ‘angry young man’ too seriously a la Khakee there is definitely a ceiling for that sort of thing today. People just don’t want ‘revolution’.
You are missing the point. The movie is about an old guy who thinks he is still cool – so yes wannabe. It looks like it will be silly fun movie and hopefully not too regressive.
The latest Title song is simply Superbbbbbbbbbb…. specially loved the portions like “Hum jahan pe khade ho jate hain..” and “Zip khula hai tumahara..”…etc..
Now *this* song is worth a celebration.
ABsr’s voice is just as attractive as ever.
Love the one liner – ‘main jahan….’ LOL!
Hope there are a lot more of this kind in the film.
there r many kings in bollywood but there is only one emperor who is undisputed and still rocking at 69..the one and only ORIGINAL DON of bollywood..Big B..THE Baaap of all superstars combined!!
“Sam Juliano” reminds me of “Michael Barbosa” hahaha–both interms of name and the frequency of appearance (no offence–just jokin)
Pradeep—the v low “hits” on yotube is indeed somewhat of an indicator–thanx for flagging it up….
Abolutely loved this song promo … I have watched countless times now .. but can’t get enough .. A treat for sure .. 1ST JULY … Please come soooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Lanky, frail and old now, Bachchan looks even more unconvincing beating up bad men. The question is will his fans still lap it up? Especially so since his fans are around his age and hardly watch movies?
Does Bachchan have a large enough fan base amidst the youth who throng multiplexes? The youth which normally watches buff bodies like the Khans or Devgn bashing up bad people?
What nonsense? Did Rajni or any of the older action stars have buff bodies? Six-pack bodies are a new trend and one that is getting stale quickly since there is no substitute for good acting.
“Thanks to the action promo of BHTB, which was instantly a huge hit, the film is one of the hottest properties going. As for Imran Khan’s Delhi Belly, the song Bhaag D K Bose and the theatrical trailer are keeping the film in the news. The only hitch is that both films are scheduled to release on the same day, ie, July 1. If Delhi Belly has the upper hand in multiplexes, BHTB will enjoy the upper hand in both multiplexes and singleplexes. All we can say is we hope they don’t split the audience and, consequently, each other’s business.”
Let’s keep thing in perspective. How do we know promo of BHTB was instantly a huge hit? It should have been but strangely on YouTube it gives only 418 viewer count-which is very low.
The original trailer released on May 20 has 180k views. Then there are many others of the same with 25k or 11k views and so on and some in the hundreds. The new trailer has 450 views but this isn’t the first one that was put up. I referenced that one on my blog but it was taken off after a day or more. So we don’t know how many views it got. Now if you look at some of original Delhi Belly trailers you’ll see views in the 400-500k range. But those have been around way longer than BBuddah. There cannot be a direct comparison anyway. The generation that dominates the internet is also the one that shows up for DB much more than Bbuddah. And generally films with younger actors get more activity. When the Ranjha trailer was released for Raavan it got 200k in a day or two and was one of the highest movers ever for a Hindi film trailer. So one cannot compare Bbuddah directly with these numbers. Nonetheless the first trailer at least did well in this sense. We’ll have to see the numbers on this second one in some days again accounting for the trailer that’s now lost. But otherwise I have said even on Bachchan’s blog that he should get to the widest possible audience with this one in terms of the advertising.
If you have watched GRAN TARINO of clint eastwood ,in that film he does it @ 75 then Amitabh is still in 60s so should be no problem.
The fact is he done in Khakee and ek ajnabee
Satyam good to know that you are realistic about box office chances og BHTB. The july month is too clutterd with films. If it gross 20 cr still a achivment for it.
It’s not about being realistic. Funny how people read what they want to in a comment. I said clearly 25 crores wouldn’t surprised me but 50 crores wouldn’t either.
Amitabh taking on SRK, Hrithik
Upala KBR, TNN | Jun 7, 2011, 12.00am IST
The teaser trailer of Amitabh Bachchan’s Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap is being talked about across various discussion forums.
What has sparked off the reactions is the actor’s bold dialogue, funky attire and action sequences. The entire campaign so far, has used references from his cult films like Deewar, Agneepath, Hum etc. to recreate his angry young man days…
The latest promo drives the Bachchan bravado up a notch with him openly challenging his younger contemporaries! Opening with the line ‘Tum saale aaj-kal ke bachche log…’, AB seems to be reiterating his position in the industry. Is this line aimed at SRK (who remade Don and is now working on a sequel) or Hrithik Roshan who is currently working on remaking Agneepath, one of Bachchan’s most memorable roles as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan?
For those who thought that AB has become too ‘Bbuddah’ for such things, we can only wait and watch as he ups the ante.
I am very positive about it. Just don’t know what kind of audience it will attract. I am expecting some minimal numbers here. I see many pathways here. My worst case scenario involves it doing 30 crores or so, assuming it is minimally liked. But I think this could do a lot more than this. Or let me put it this way — I think Bachchan in this subject should not do anything less than 40 crores all things considered. More than this is possible too. The difference might be the advertising. It’s alright so far and the film has a greater presence in India according to Bachchan. But I think it needs to be taken to a whole different level. Perhaps it will be. I don’t know. If I were in charge of this show my operative sense would be that this film can do 40-50 crores and I would then advertise based on this premise.
I don’t think the dialogue writer had this in mind.
As far as I’m concerned the only ‘copying’ was the name ‘Don’.
The story itself isn’t new.
Shammi Kapoor lovers will know the film ‘China Town’ in 1962 where he made a very suave Don.
An year earler was the very first ‘Don’ film – with IS
Johar and Geeta Bali, called ‘Mr India’ in 1961.
“THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL *DON* FILMS” – as far as I’m concerned.
Oldgold, you might have missed some of the lines and songs that came only from Bachchan’s Don in the SRK version..
As for those older films you are right in some ways but SRK very specifically remade Bachchan’s Don and that’s all they kept talking about. He and Akhtar. I would be very surprised if either SRK or Akhtar have seen those films, I’d be surprised if they’d even heard of the older Mr India!
I don’t quite see why you need to rewrite what’s so obvious just to justify SRK. And even if you want to you can hardly deny the fact that he only had the Bachchan version in mind when doing this.
Mehboob Khan made a film called Aurat many years before Mother India which more or less has the same plot. He in a way remade his own film. The older film is hardly known, the newer one is. That’s the reference point, the film that made history.
The writer might or might not have these newer remakes in mind but certainly the line sounds suggestive in the trailer.
There are very many stories that aren’t necessarily new under the sun. But one has to look at the most iconic examples.
It’s not about defending SRK.
My point is about ‘copying’.
If dialogues were copied in the new Don, can’t we say that the first Don’s story was copied from the earlier two?
I’m pretty sure the story writer was familiar with Mr India 1961 and China Town 1962.
But I’m not talking about ‘copying’ at all. I’m referring to remakes. Farhan Akhtar and SRK said they were remaking Bachchan’s Don as they were huge fans, they even retained specific songs and lines from the film. Is this really the same as the Don plot being loosely similar to that of China Town?!
I think this is your roundabout way of ‘rescuing’ SRK!
and also how they characterize Don as having borrowed ‘some elements’. I guess for you this is the same a full-fledged remake. By that argument Deewar copies Mother India! So whether you have people copying wholesale, borrowing plot elements or launching official remakes it’s all the same.
Don’t you think that even as a fan one should display minimal integrity? Or does one torture language to simply defend one’s favorite star?
I suppose Hrithik could now say that his Agneepath remake is no more nor less than Agneepath’s own Deewar rewrite!
Why give me the link?
Do you think I don’t know the plot? What an insult not only to a lover of old cinema, but to indicate that I’m speaking without knowing the plot!!!
I’VE SEEN THE FILM!!!
Here’s the link to it (though I have the DVD);
The plot is similar in all four;
-two look alikes
-but opposite in character (one sophisticated the other a simpleton)
-the sophisticated one in all is a criminal
-the simpleton learns the ways of the other to impersonate him to help the police while the other is out of the way (in prison or dead).
Now to this one can add the contemporary needs of style/music/action/different subplots/ etc
Note: The first Don’s friend is also Helen as in the third.
>Don’t you think that even as a fan one should display minimal integrity?
Yes, Satyam. Please do.
>Or does one **torture language** to simply defend one’s favorite star?
*torture language*
Ha! Tell me about it
1)You will not even repeat what SRK and Farhan have said the explicit aim of their film was — to remake Bachchan’s Don.
2)To get around it your argument once upon a time was that the original Don wasn’t one of Bachchan’s very iconic films. But your other argument is that it has a plot similar to China Town (since then you’ve included Mr India too). My point is: so what? No one’s denying the similarities but that a remake means something very specific. There are dozens and dozens of heist movies in Hollywood but the recent Italian Job remade the older one with Michael Caine much as the recent Thomas Crown Affair remade the older one with Steve McQueen. What would your response be? To hunt older Hollywood films with heists and suggest that even the original Italian Job or Thomas Crown affair weren’t original enough!
3)When cornered this way you claim that a ‘remake’ is an official name for ‘copying’ older films when in fact the older films were doing the same without even calling it as such.
4)What’s the common thread that runs through everything here? That SRK’s film not be seen as secondary or lesser in any sense. Therefore the way to get around it is to deconstruct the older Don at every turn. It’s like if one says Agneepath is a remake of the older film of the same title and again something Johar and Hrithik explicitly say you immediately start deconstructing the older Agneepath and say the plot is very similar to Deewar and that the film was copying the older film without admitting it. But of course you never say this for Agneepath when the case is even easier than the one you’re making on Don. The standard you’re using would make every other film in Hindi cinema a copy of every other. So one could say AAA is a copy of Yaadon ki Baraat because you have three kids in each case who separate at birth and who then meet as adults and so on. I could say Bhatt’s Naam is simply a copy of Deewar but he doesn’t want to admit it. So on and so forth. There is a difference between borrowing themes from a film or its tropes and actually remaking it. Similarly many plots are similar, this does not still constitute a remake.
The problem is you refuse to address what SRK and Farhan have themselves called their aim. Your entire argument relies on a level of deliberate distortion. Why? Because you have not once raised the same defense for Agneepath even though I have criticized the film as harshly on similar grounds. It is only with Don where you begin to have problems. And you entire set of reasons are designed to ‘protect’ the new Don from some of the charges. If there weren’t these reasons available there would be others. Because these aren’t sincerely held convictions on your part. I had a problem with SRK doing Don for certain reasons, I had a problem with Hrithik doing Agneepath for the very same reasons. But at least both those guys are taking up very iconic Bachchan roles. I also have a problem with Abhishek doing Amol Palekar in Golmaal and anyone even thinking of remaking that film. You’re not displaying such consistency. You have a problem only in one instance. So it’s hard for me to take you seriously when you will not even repeat what Farhan and SRK have always claimed to be their goal — of remaking Don. Or when you will not extend the same logic to other such examples.
And when one is cornered what does one do? Resort to smileys and the like! And you refer to all ‘four’ films here. The fact that three of those films have similarities is noteworthy because China Town wasn’t being called a remake of Mr India and Don wasn’t being called a remake of China Town or Mr India. However the new Don cannot be made part of this series because there everyone started out calling it a remake. So you pretend that there’s some coincidental similarity here as well! You have never once called the new film a remake. Let’s start with this basic fact and then we can move onto other stuff!
I offered those plot details by the way for the benefit of others reading this. So that they could see what the distinctions were. Deewar has some loose elements borrowed from On the waterfront but it also has a more direct link with Mother India. Doesn’t mean it’s a ‘copy’. Dev Anand’s Baarish on the other hand sticks very close to On the Waterfront. Raj Kapoor’s Phir Subah Hogi again has some elements borrowed from Crime and Punishment. So there are these important distinctions. However if one simply wants to defend one film at any cost one starts playing linguistic games.
No, I’m not denying the remake business. My aim is just to state that;
-4th Don is a remake (declared by the makers), of the 3rd Don
-the 3rd Don has the basic structure of the first and second.
So why is one frowned upon and not the other?
Because it happens to be the remake of AB’s Don which you consider iconic?
What’s the difference?
4th – remake of 3rd
3rd – copied the structure to build on from 1st and 2nd
I feel the makers of 3rd Don should have paid tribute to the earlier ones for their brilliant structure which had an immense opportunity to fit it in with the style of ABsr, and also seen by the maker of 4th to fit it in the style of SRK.
ALAS!! If it hadn’t been for the 1st and 2nd…………………!!!!!!!
No because there are good remakes and miserable remakes! and some films are so full realized, so iconic that one must have a very good reason to remake them. The SRK Don is a disaster compared to Bachchan’s version and I expect Hrithik’s Agneepath to be similar to it in this sense! Bachchan’s Don on the other hand despite its campy feel (which is part of its charm) is infinitely superior to Shammi’s China Town (a film which even on its own merits is alright but nothing special). It is better than Mr India though.
I am not against remakes, just dumb ones! I didn’t have a problem with Naam intelligently reworking Deewar, in fact I have quite a weakness for the film. Similarly Golmaal is such a classic and Amol Palekar-Utpal Dutt so brilliant in it that I don’t believe the film can be approached let alone bettered. Of course Rohit Shetty will probably make it a lot more slapstick and get a hit out of it. Amol was brilliant in these parts but did not have the iconic heft of a Bachchan. Nonetheless this film should not be touched. I say it even though I know Abhishek has a flair for comedy, that he needs box office glory, that this might be an easy hit when redone by Rohit Shetty. I am STILL opposed to it. So forget SRK and Hrithik touching some very iconic Bachchan parts I don’t even want Abhishek to touch Palekar! Of course the really appalling thing here is Devgan doing Utpal Dutt. In any I’ve made all of this very clear before.
But again one should be honest about these things. Farhan and SRK had Bachchan’s Don as their ONLY reference point. Whatever were the sources of the original Don SRK and Farhan were assuredly not following them. So your entire argument about the original sources is void when it comes to SRK’s Don. Of course I note a certain slippage here. China Town itself shouldn’t be considered original at all by your lights! So Mr India has then spawned China Town! By the way the original China Town led to an MGR remake. But Bachchan’s Don led to Rajni’s iconic remake (which then spawned Ajith’s remake), one in Telugu (which also spawned its own remake), one with Mohanlal as well. Rajni’s Billa became iconic on its own. So there are the ‘iconic’ sweepstakes. Sometimes remakes become legendary in their own right. Sadly SRK was to be denied this and all the hype in the world cannot make up this gap nor will a sequel be able to fill in (though this might be better than the first attempt as it will be more or less a thriller sort of deal with the Don label added on). SRK’s film is therefore not at all like Rajni’s Billa.
Unfortunately for you as a SRK fan Oldgold I am not so confused about all of this. Nor can I become so try hard as you will!
Sorry to jump in here Satyam, Oldgold – Can you tell me the names of the characters in Bachchans Don and SRK’s don? and can you tell me the name of the characters from Bachchans Don and China Town & Mr. India? Hmm..I guess they were not the same right? So indeed your SRK’s Don is a remake of the Original Don. Also, lets not forget the third term here along with remake & copying, which is “inspired” I know a lot of people have been using this word very loosely these days, But Old Don was some what inspired from the 2 older films you mentioned. The basic premise maybe the same, but its subplots and other parts were completely different, SRK’s Don is a complete lift of the Original Don, even the subplots, The only change I hear is the Ending (which kind of defeats the purpose, if you ask me) and no 2nd child for JJ. I know you do agree that new don is a remake, but if you claim that Bachchans Don was also a remake or copy and no one is frowning over it? well, sorry to disappoint you yet again my friend, but the truth of the matter is, It was not a complete lift off of the older version and it was just an inspired from it. Can you call Sholay a copied/remake movie? No, because it has its own plots and subplots and the way the story is told is vastly different from MANY films that it is inspired from, for ex: Once upon a time in the west, The good bad and the ugly and a few more spaghetti westerns. For me, Ghulam is a copy/remake of On the waterfront, But it was ofcourse Indianised for us. Even its subplots were similar. So there is a difference. Sorry to keep adding this again and again satyam, just like you I am Royally pissed off about the remakes, but here it goes. TO ALL BACHCHAN FANS PLEASE BOYCOTT WATCHING HRITHIKS AGNEEPATH IN THE THEATERS. KJO SAYS THAT HE WANTS A HIT TAG NEXT TO AGNEEPATH THATS WHY HE IS REMAKING IT, WHICH IS AN ABSURD REASON (RE-RELEASE THE OLDER VERSION THEN). SO, IF YOU LIKE PLEASE BOYCOTT IT AND DO NOT WATCH IT IN THE THEATERS, YOUR CHOICE. MAKE THAT A WISE ONE.
I Just heard that Arakshan first look will be revealed on 9th June. As of now BBuddah is releasing first and this is my gut feeling that publicity of both movies shouldn’t be overlapped. I feel Arakshan publicity should start after release of Bbuddah .. May be from 7th July, but certainly not now. If two movies start promotion in parallel, it definitely divide the attention and overall effect of both will be diluted. For benefit of both movies, Mr. Jha and BigB should make a perfect strategy and there should not be any try to overlap. Keep coming the Bbuddah trailer and other stuffs, keep Arakshan to hold until Bbuddah release.
I guess you can convey same message to BigB more effectively on his blog.
Satyam? Anyone? How do you read comments on Twitter w/o an acct myself? For the last one month or so I have not been able to read AB’s tweets, goes onto some ‘welcome to twitter’ page. Help,anyone, Satyam?
Also, can I please see/hear AB’s song that he has sung for Mr B in BHTB.
Thought the music was going to release yesterday, havn’t heard anything about it yet and ABsir didn’t mention anything about it on the blog yesterday either. Anyone know what’s going on with that?
Having seen these promos a few times, I can see beyond the somewhat garish make up at times and get the feeling Puri knows what he is doing and this should work beond original expectations.
Abhishek sings for Amitabh
TNN | Jun 7, 2011, 12.00am IST
Abhishek Bachchan is fast becoming as popular a playback singer as his dad Amitabh Bachchan is.
The young actor who sang Thayn Thayn in Dum Maaro Dum will surprise the audience with a stanza that he has sung for his father in a remix of some famous Amitabh yesteryear numbers in their home production Bbuddah Hoga Tere Baap. Those who have been fortunate to have been treated to the song before it becomes public say, “Abhishek has done such a good job. The rest of the song is sung by Amitabh. However, Abhishek’s stanza is the highlight. Must say Abhi’s voice suits his dad.” Will this mean Junior will sing for AB Senior more often?
Last I heard that Jr was going to sing for this album with AB singing to his old songs and Jr rapping in between, something to that effect, not sure how true that is. We will just have to wait and watch…err listen.
IAMTHAT, many thanks buddy, am reading Jr’s tweets after almost a month, thanks once again. As for the song, Mr B mentioned on today’s blogpost that the promo will be out soon.
O….Sorry…Delete my comment then…also your commenting section is royally messed up (what do you change? Unchange it please)….Also delete this comment as well
Thanx Ted—Good song.
Hope this signifies an “emotional” subtext in this otherwise “over the top” fare….Amitabh (still) is sublime in this sort of terrain!!
Considering his status, every director aspires to work with Amitabh Bachchan. It was no different for Puri Jagannath, who’s helming Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap with the actor. Interestingly, the filmmaker, who started as an associate with Ram Gopal Varma, concedes that his initial plan was to remake a Hollywood movie with Bachchan.
Puri reveals that he’d expressed his wish of working with the actor to RGV first. “I wanted to remake Taken (2008) starring Liam Neeson, with Amit ji. So I asked Ramu if he’d seen it. He hadn’t, but he suggested that I write something original instead,” says the director.
After a week of brainstorming, Puri shared a concept with RGV, which he felt was apt for a film with Big B. “Ramu liked it and soon Amitabh Bachchanfixed up a meeting with Amit ji,” says Puri, summing up how he got the actor on board. Ask him why he was prompted to revisit the Angry Young Man image in his film, though Bachchan had started playing his age with Agneepath, and Puri reiterates, “Having grown up seeing Amit ji’s movies, I wanted to see him as a larger than life persona on screen again. After some time, no one was making those kinds of films with him. So he was not playing that kind of character and no one was writing those lines for him any more,” he reasons.
Tell him that there’s been plenty of buzz about Big B doing action a la Salman Khan in Wanted (2009), a remake of Puri’s Telugu hit, Pokhiri (2006), and the director smiles, “It would be wrong to compare. But it would suffice to say that the character, his guts and the dialogue are the highlight of Bbuddah.”
Further, he maintains that only one line is borrowed from Bachchan’s previous films – ‘Hum jahaan khade ho jaate hain, line vahin se shuru ho jaati hai,’ (the line starts wherver I stand), which is in the promos currently on air. “Apart from this, all lines are new, but retain the essence of his earlier films,” says the director as he gears up for the film’s July 1 release.
“Mr. Bachchan just couldn’t stop during action sequences” – Puri Jagannadh
By Devansh Patel, June 14, 2011 – 12:32 IST
Puri Jagannadh My father stood in a queue to watch Sholay. Puri Jagannadh too has done it, and I’m sure many of you out there too must have at some given point in your life. But such was the allure of Amitabh Bachchan back then. Today, many seem that he has become placid in his portrayals on screen but come July 1, the angry young man gives way to the angry old man in Puri Jagannadh’s Bbuddah…Hoga Terra Baap. The South Indian director has just arrived in Bollywood and look what he has done? He has presented Amitabh Bachchan as never before: colourful, cajoling and kicking. The question is – Will Puri take it one notch higher? To find out more on the origin of Bbuddah and the loss of the angry young man, UK’s Harrow Observer columnist and Bollywood Hungama’s London correspondent talks to the director who has given his heart and soul to bring the hero of heroes, Amitabh Bachchan on celluloid all over again. Matinee time is just around the corner and so are the long queues. And believe you me, advance booking starts NOW!
“I stopped watching Mr. Bachchan’s films till I came across RGV’s Sarkar and the rest is history”
I’ve been a big fan of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan since childhood and I used to watch his movies like Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay and Agneepath. He is dynamic and a superstar in front of me. Then he was never seen in the angry young man look for decades. So I stopped watching his films also. For me, Amitabh Bachchan was the epitome of angry. After twenty five years, I watched Sarkar and I called RGV. I have been an assistant director for Ram Gopal Varma. I called and I told him that I wanted to cast Mr. Bachchan in a role for the film that I had written. RGV then took me to Mr. Bachchan and he agreed to do the film.
“I never dreamt that I would work with Mr. Bachchan”
I never dreamt that I would work with Mr. Bachchan in my life because I was just a fan of his. So seeing Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap come to life is a surprise but it’s still a film that I have directed and it’s my work.
Puri Jagannadh “Mr. Bachchan told me to mellow down the action sequences but he lied. He just couldn’t stop once on set”
I did design the action sequences that could be handled by Mr. Bachchan but he told me to mellow down in the action sequences. He was honest to tell me that he won’t be able to do too many action sequences. But he lied (laughs). He is so energetic that he just couldn’t stop once in the character.
“There will be a long queue to watch him in Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap”
Now-a-days, the youth is watching Amitabh Bachchan on the big screen anyway. But back then, I used to stand in a queue to watch him. I want today’s youth to do just that. There will be a long queue to watch him in Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap, that’s what I wish. It’s a different feeling altogether. Yes, the Rajinikanth fascination is hitting Bollywood big time.
“When RGV told Mr. Bachchan the name of the film is Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap, he laughed out loud”
When RGV told Mr. Bachchan the name of the film is Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap, he laughed out loud. It was the most unexpected title ever. But in today’s time the youth really gets their first flavour of the film from its title. I think this is the most risky title that many of our actors or directors or producers would never go with.
“Mr. Bachchan wants to go beyond his characters sometimes”
Mr. Bachchan got so many colourful goggles that I asked myself ‘Why’ (laughs). But deep down he has this fire in him. He took me home and showed me some of the stuff he brought. That’s passion for cinema. That’s the level of commitment he brings. He even got some tiger print pants that I and you will never buy but when you have a role like this, Mr. Bachchan wants to go beyond and that’s good.
Puri Jagannadh “Sonal Chauhan has played her role with zest”
I earlier wanted Kangna Ranaut for the role that is now being portrayed by Sonal Chauhan in Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap. I didn’t get Kangna’s dates and so went with Sonal after the auditions. She is very good in the film. She has played her role with zest.
“Bbuddah started with a dialogue and then the story”
When I thought of the title Bbuddah, I didn’t know what kind of a story I was going to write. But I wrote one dialogue before writing the story, “Agar mein marunga, toh goli se marunga, BP ya sugar se nahi.” (If I die I will die from a bullet and not from BP or Sugar). That triggered off the rest of the film. I designed the protagonist on those lines. The movie will certainly have a repeat audience, I can guarantee.
“I am getting offers to direct in Hindi now”
I am getting offers to direct in Hindi now after the first promo and the look is out. I have been working in Hyderabad since a decade but now I want to make some more Hindi films because I am also starting to live in Mumbai (laughs). “Mr. Bachchan makes sure that everything is proper from pre to post”
Mr. Bachchan saw the whole film and he told me to edit some scenes only to better the film. Yes, he does talk to you and gives you his personal input but more than that, he makes sure that everything is done correctly in the scene, be it lighting, direction, co-actors and even editing.
“To have the premiere of Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap in London will be amazing”
I told Mr. Bachchan to have the premiere of the film in London. That’ll be quite something. Let’s see whether we are successful in doing that or not.
I can certainly relate to the way he responds to that first question here. In Bachchan’s case it’s not (for the fan) about being addicted to an image but to an entire political configuration. Having said that I think Poori errs in finding the truth of the angry young man repeated in Sarkar. I have always insisted on this. Because the Bachchan of Sarkar much like that of K3G is as much a monument in granite. Now of course one prefers the former to the latter but the ‘mode’ is still the same and it is unfortunately an impulse that most directors have been afflicted by. To present Bachchan as a monument. The problem then is that he is not often given the chance to play a nuanced character. And I fear that Aarakshan has the same problem. I found the trailer very effective but if one is going in as a Bachchan fan one will see the monument once more. The problem with playing ‘monument’ is that one also represents institutionalization. This too is not a charge that can be connected to that of the angry young man.
to complete the thought on Bachchan his signature remains the single biggest ‘question’ of the present. It is still the ‘unresolved’. For two reasons: firstly Bachchan’s own career over the last decade or more where he mostly walks away from that history. But secondly Abhishek’s career who promises a ‘return’ in some sense (this must not naively be read as simply repetition.. this is about ‘signature’ not the gestures of the father understood in an obvious sense) also contains its own ‘unresolved’. Once again the box office illustrates this but also because ‘interesting’ failures have been authentic responses to that signature. He can certainly do run of the mill from time to time but not as a career path. Because that even if successful would empty out his meaning.
Now why do I say that his signature remains the biggest question of the present? Haven’t there been successful stars elsewhere doing all sorts of things? Yes. But those aren’t of the order of interesting or important questions. Those attempts are equivalent to a kind of cinema based on polls. You just satisfy the audience. You give it what it wants. You push the right buttons. But you don’t lead the audience anywhere. There is nothing new that emerges therefore. It’s just about trends and fads. Aamir remains an exception to a degree here because he has re-introduced about the notion of meaningful cinema and and put it at the forefront. The truth is that while most stars would like to have a Dabanng or a Ghajini they’d choose RDB over these if they could (Aamir gets to do both!). So Aamir has made ‘prestige’ all important. Here people sometimes argue that distributors love the Ready sort of film and so on. Sure they do! But the system nonetheless places a premium on the prestige films which is why there are so many of these and in defiance of the box office (not many work and even the ones that do work partially for the most part). But I said ‘to a degree’ with Aamir because in the context of this discussion Aamir too hasn’t spearhead a definite political framework. It is basically a combination of the rooted and the meaningful which is of course very important but it is still an abstraction in his body of work over this past decade. In other words when one looks at the angry young man he’s arguing for something very specific. Aamir does this once in MP, this film says something specific. RDB does too (even if I find the thesis here muddled). But generally speaking the overall trajectory really goes from film to film without there being a connecting idea other than ‘rootedness’ and ‘quality’. Today this should become Aamir’s task. He’s achieved everything he needed to in terms of hits and in all kinds of genres. He should now take it further precisely by returning to the concerns of MP. Not a period piece or anything. Just anything that retriggers the concerns of that earlier film.
Here people completely misread Abhishek for his choices (he signs with the right directors but has no script sense). Abhishek is precisely the guy who keeps doing Mangal Pandey! One can debate the box office merits of this but that’s another matter. There is however a certain continuity here. Note how when he feels he needs to do stuff for box office reasons he completely moves away from that paradigm and does stuff like Italian Job and Bol Bacchchan and whatever. On the one hand one might wonder why he cannot do the meaningful film but with some more ‘compromise’ and hence make it more palatable at the box office. But that is how he stays true to the authenticity of those questions. By either doing Raavan or Italian Job! Now (and as I said sometime back) there is a way to make a successful film out of Delhi 6 or Raavan or MP or what have you. But it would take writers like Salim-Javed and some of the greatest scripts ever for this improbable marriage to be brought about.
Feverbaba..satyam might elaborate on this.. but
if you listen he smiles and says Master jee..listening to words of the commissioner vijay is reminded of his Father!!!
i think d scene wanted to convey dat vijay was sure his father was not an ideal kind of person to survive in todays day n age but when he saw the commissoner ,he laughs sarcastically to find a similar person who wud ,in all possibility,achieve a fate like his father did.
Don’t think there was a reminder but Hindi audiences who are unaware of this brand of Southern masala have only the Dabanng model to go on. These sorts of lines (always with some humor to them) are really staple for that genre. And Poori has been at the forefront of this wave for a while. But this kind of tone can again be traced back to Bachchan’s own glory days as I never tire of pointing out. This is what his one man industry phase from the 80s is about. It isn’t what the 70s represented where the lines always emerged very organically from the script.
Hold your horses & don’t get crack by the wild imagination! Is there any alphabets of mine or an infinite combination of it implies the most improbable and insane comparison betn Sallu & AB? Probably this is the 1st time Sallu gets honored to have his name in the same sentence along with AB by me. To compare two is like comparing Yash chopra’s grumbling in VR to AB’s timeless rendition in Silsila.
Dabbang was mention just to pointed out southern touch as Satyam rightly explained.
why r u relating with dabang.. no pradip it is not a reminder!!!! now dont come and tell me why amitabh bachchan is angry and walking and talking and fighting like some other hero!!!!!! haan the other way is hugely possible!!!!!!!
Amit kumar panday-let me repeat my reply to aby2000 who graciously clarified and I must thank him for that but U still seem to be pointing gun at me for all wrong reasons.
“Hold your horses & don’t get crack by the wild imagination! Is there any alphabets of mine or an infinite combination of it implies the most improbable and insane comparison betn Sallu & AB? Probably this is the 1st time Sallu gets honored to have his name in the same sentence along with AB by me. To compare two is like comparing Yash chopra’s grumbling in VR to AB’s timeless rendition in Silsila.
Dabbang was mention just to pointed out southern touch as Satyam rightly explained.”
will open one with the next trailer.. there seems to be a wordpress glitch though I think it was worse some days ago.. haven’t noticed any problems very recently.. still this thread has too many comments.. will start a new one with the next.
May 15, 2011 at 8:45 AM
Thoda aksen, thoda Jackson.
Saala ab kuchh logon ke liye bahut sara tension.
May 15, 2011 at 10:35 AM
heh heh..
May 15, 2011 at 10:57 AM
Note by the way how these ‘teasers’ are a logical end to the way this age approaches masala. I won’t regurgitate (!) everything I’ve said on this before but my essential point is that masala is accessed in the present as something ‘fun’, in a somewhat deconstructive way. It’s something you enjoy without taking too seriously whereas the whole point of masala was that it had to be taken very seriously. So now we finally have Bachchan ‘returning’ to masala after a long long gap and there is again a somewhat tongue-in-cheek ‘response’ to the ‘angry young man’. We see of course how those lines are now part of ‘culture’ and can be quoted anytime anywhere. and so these teasers measure the transcendence of those moments (by the way isn’t this bad news for the Agneepath remake? That the ‘original’ shows up referring to his history?!). At the same time these are emptied out of their ‘revolutionary moment’. In other words this is that aspect of the ‘angry young man’ that can be ‘consumed’. For this reason there is something appropriate about these teasers. Because these build a bridge from the original ‘event’ and all its iconic manifestations to the present ‘cultural’ transcendence of the ‘once’ angry young man. This move is always achieved at the ‘cost’ of emptying out the immediacy of the political charge. In this sense Bachchan is even more ‘universal’ now than he was at his peak because now no one objects to him. Therefore it is only ‘right’ that these teasers have silhouettes. This is a nice ‘figure’ for engaging with that history from the perspective of the present. In a sense the ‘ghost’ is all you get!
I should say that this dynamic whereby the event becomes ‘culture’ in a somewhat bland way is not limited to Bachchan’s legacy. In a way this is what happens with every very successful artistic (and not only artistic) event. We can now comfortably access Shakespeare as culture and miss what was so revolutionary about his original interventions. Or in other words we can understand this as critics but the ‘world’ of that work is now lost. ‘Culture’ is then another name for what is replicable about the event. But it is also a name for the moment at which the event can start getting co-opted. Therefore as a thinker puts it revolutions must be abandoned the moment they are successful. Because the morning after becomes co-optation! So the irony always is that it takes historical perspective for the full dimensions of the event to be apparent (Bachchan’s event is much clear from out vantage point than it was in the late 70s… Shakespeare 400 years or so later is far more of one than could have seemed possible to the audiences of his day) but when these do become clear (or ‘legible’) the event has already been in a sort of decline. So again with Sholay the film shocked its original audiences who actually took some time to absorb it (this is why no one could figure out for a week or more at the time whether the film was working or not) but today every ‘element’ in the film works in a detachable way (from its original context) and can be repeated in a purely ironic self-reflexive way as with that zany moment in Jhankaar Beats (“how did the Thakur eat?”.. the protagonists trying to pick up condoms with their mouths with their hands behind their backs!) or people can ‘enjoy’ them without being offended by anything in the film.
Heidegger always thought that contrary to all the romanticism about art once the ‘world’ of an artwork (its original contexts) was lost the work itself could never really be retrieved in its full glory. Put differently the deepest subversions of a work get ironed out over time at which point these can be recovered as cultural criticism but not in terms of their original force. When works become culture in the most profound sense this ‘economy’ testifies to the original ‘event’ but the latter still cannot be ‘replayed’ for all its original potency. In different and somewhat ‘postmodern’ terms the event is in a sense always either too early or too late. When it’s really ‘on’ it does not quite have the history and when it does have the genealogy it has been switched ‘off’ in certain important ways. This is the paradox of the event and no great event in art (or for that matter in politics or elsewhere is free of this movement).
May 15, 2011 at 1:47 PM
“whereas the whole point of masala was that it had to be taken very seriously”
While I am in agreement with most everything you say, I would disagree that the original masala movies wanted themselves to be taken seriously. I would say this with some confidence for MD films that used the “lost and found” ingredients mainly as something entertaining….masaleydaar vada pav that one needed everyday vs the gourmet food one had occasionally in an expensive restaurant (aakrosh and other serious “parallel” cinema of those times). My 2 cents.
May 15, 2011 at 3:03 PM
I am reminded of that well known and provocatively titled work ‘Did the Greeks believe in their myths?’ The answer is not in the naive ways we sometimes assume that people living in ancient times related to their belief systems. It was more a question of those beliefs forming a horizon of meaning. This is also what the ‘death of God’ proclamation means. Not that people suddenly stop believing in God but that God ceases to be the ultimate guarantor of meaning, the ultimate ‘foundation’ of all belief.
Similarly people were not naive about masala (and Desai’s wasn’t the only kind). But that genre or really ‘super-genre’ required a level of investment by the viewer. It couldn’t work with the viewer adopting a certain ironic distance. Many of these narratives were cathartic experiences, certainly all the great Salim Javed scripts or the Prakash Mehra films. Even in Desai’s films which were essentially ‘comedies’ (understood in the classical sense as the opposite of tragedy) there were genuine moments of loss that couldn’t necessarily be overcome. The way those films were structured, the way those narratives worked was something very different from say the tone of Dabanng or the kind so far exhibited in these Bbuddah promos. Here it is required for the viewer to approach the whole thing with a tongue-in-cheek stance. No one could approach Mukaddar ka Sikandar or Trishul or Ganga Ki Saugandh that way! Why? The stakes were just too high? Who could sit at a distance when the film was Lawaaris?! I’ve already talked about Sholay. So on and so forth. In recent times there has been the counterexample of Ghajini. Everything has to be taken seriously here. There is no question of preserving that ironic distance with this film. This is how masala worked once. Even the Desai films offered a saturation of experience where even if the films were relatively ‘light’ there was still a lot to be absorbed. The audiences in any case did not go to the films thinking — hey it will be fun to laugh ‘at’ the film! Today that is the sort of attitude that’s often fostered. Now Bbuddah might not be like this but Dabanng certainly was. Hence you had Salman laughing for the audience at times at his own lines! This does not mean the films cannot be entertaining doing this. Just that the essence of the masala encounter is missed this way. There are many who have told me that people didn’t take it so seriously at the time and so on but I read this as a ‘reaction’. Either people re-writing things retrospectively or else the films made people uncomfortable to some degree at the time (this was definitely true for the bourgeois classes) and hence they categorized things this way. There was this old rap on Bachchan that he was ‘just for the masses’, not enough of an actor for the classes, that his films were ‘just entertainment’, that he stooped to conquer, so on and so forth. Bourgeois audiences always had an uneasy relationship with him though of course over time the event conquered all. But there were all sorts of attempts to pretend his ‘revolution’ was nothing great. It reminds me of one of Badiou’s principal stances. In dealing with a revolution one of the possibilities is to suggest: what revolution?! There is no revolution here!
May 15, 2011 at 5:00 PM
Written very beautifully (both Q and S). That the works were revolutionary in hind sight…not for the contemporary (both MrShakespeare and bigb’s iconic movies).
On a very side note (and this has to do with my personal theory, which you don’t agree on, so please don’t snigger), Bigb could play those roles with soul (emote thro’ his eyes and dialogues etc etc), because he himself had gone thro’ that pain (of poverty/deprivation/struggle) and understood the masses. The newer 2nd generation of actor-kids, having never gone thro’ a single day in their life of any difficulty (abzee’s sunscreen example herre) cannot go deep into their souls to portray that angst….I can’t see anyone from Sunny D, Devgan, junior B essaying those types of roles….maybe devgan most promising but I still won’t put him in same category as dilipkumar or bigb…not just yet…quite promising though. It would have to be bajpais of this world to do justice to that characterization…
May 15, 2011 at 2:42 PM
Qalandar:
Superb comment Satyam, especially the line ” Bachchan is even more ‘universal’ now than he was at his peak because now no one objects to him”. But this also ties into your response to my comment the other day about DMD and the not-so-radical consumption of Salim-Javed scripts — you had made reference to whether the same might not be true of Shakespeare’s universality (ie that it too can be read any number of ways). Ie I do not disagree, but I cannot fully agree either, precisely for the reason you allude to in your comment here: ie, AT THE MOMENT Shakespeare (or Salim-Javed) is in “real time”, precisely because the contours of the event are NOT clear, there is “space” for the event to be “read” in a reactionary way — isn’t that part of why Shakespeare survived Elizabethan censors (ie perhaps he was read as simply the best of his peers, but not radically different from them)? So perhaps we have a paradox here: when the event is “fresh”, and if it is “universal”, it can be read “conservatively” — and when it’s significance is clearly manifested, it is no longer an event…
May 15, 2011 at 3:08 PM
can’t disagree here.. astute point..
May 16, 2011 at 5:36 PM
Satyam…I seriously think Buddah happened because of your comments, wanting to see that magic back again. Puri Jaggan I have noticed, starts off well but somehow gets lost in the middle of the story. Seen it happen with his later movies, probably caught between a battle of what he wants and what he thinks the audience want. Hope this movie will prove different
May 16, 2011 at 5:38 PM
Lakshmi, LOL, I’d love to believe I’m that influential but I somehow doubt it! On Puri Jagannath I’ve been hearing this stuff from other Telugu viewers too and like you I too hope he’s on song here.
May 15, 2011 at 11:03 AM
Will read satyams thesis above later…
But will have to see more of buddha promos/ trailers to make a sense of what this guy puri has come up with.
The nostalgia factor is not a big one currently ESP not in the segment who patronise multiplexes currently..
But would be happy to change my mind if I see something innovative and novel– not aware of puris work or credentials….
May 15, 2011 at 3:35 PM
was the director of pokiri which was remade in hindi as wanted by salman
has 2 national award and is one of indian cinema’s best director we have….
aside abhishek as producer is giving some of the best roles to big b… first paa and now this looks wonderful
May 15, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Pretty good teasers. I hope the future promos will be very good. This film is already in profits thanks to the low budget, etc. But I do hope this film will be able to do pretty good at the box office too. I like the way the marketing has started off.
May 15, 2011 at 2:11 PM
MORE INFO ON MOVIE:
Genre Action
Studio Viacom18 and AB CORP Limited
Plot Outline Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap marks the comeback of the Amitabh Bachchan…and he is angry!
He plays a retired hitman settled in Paris, who comes back to India to do ‘one last job’.
Amitabh exudes the style and attitude of a flamboyant man, young at heart. The film is a fast paced action thriller which showcases him in a never seen before stylized avatar with action and masala of a true Bollywood film with the “Original Action Hero”!
Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon, Charmee
Directed By Puri Jagannath
May 16, 2011 at 7:35 AM
this is called excellent promotion
May 16, 2011 at 6:29 PM
Wish something from Satyam’s favorite Trishul also sneak in Bbuddah promo..
Meanwhile let’s have this..
May 20, 2011 at 10:04 PM
This is more like it should have been. High on emotional content
May 20, 2011 at 7:40 AM
Is it only me .. Or any one else also dying to catch 60 Sec promo ???? This wait is just getting on my nerves …
May 20, 2011 at 8:08 AM
can’t wait myself..
May 20, 2011 at 9:12 AM
Same here. Most importanlty, I want to make sure they havent come up with some ridiculous get up for Amitabh.
May 20, 2011 at 9:52 AM
this looks to be a still from the trailer:
http://yfrog.com/h3b5ekqj
May 20, 2011 at 12:20 PM
If I recollect then Satyam did put up unauthorized photos of the shooting, taken by some unethical journos and going by that it seems they haven’t changed even a bit and that is little disappointing.
May 20, 2011 at 10:24 AM
Puri brings the best from AB, but his recent BO is not good.
I want Abhishek to work with Puri.
May 20, 2011 at 11:28 AM
Yes, i am waiting too!
May 20, 2011 at 11:31 AM
when the 1st trailer coming btw?
b4 start f 2nd innings?
May 20, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Facebook
Bbuddah
Listen up all you Big B fans…Exclusive first look of Bbuddah…Hoga Terra Baap will be aired today between 9 pm – 10 pm. Stay glued to your T.V sets…you surely wouldn’t want to miss the Angry Young Man in action
May 20, 2011 at 11:49 AM
they’ve kept a tight lid on it because in other cases these things inevitably leak online beforehand.
May 20, 2011 at 12:08 PM
First Look will decide which way is this swinging.
As said above , me too fear Big B get up.
One thing for sure , Sonu Sood is in for getting some serious bashing on screen.
May 20, 2011 at 12:10 PM
satyam the trailer is up ,ckeck it out
May 20, 2011 at 12:15 PM
http://www.youtube.com/bbuddahthemovie
May 20, 2011 at 12:16 PM
[trailer in separate thread]
May 20, 2011 at 12:21 PM
Awesome!
May 20, 2011 at 12:23 PM
Great! Thanks Doga.
May 20, 2011 at 12:29 PM
Haha, it looks awesome and great fun.
May 20, 2011 at 12:32 PM
As I said before it is same get up and that is tad disappointing.
May 20, 2011 at 12:35 PM
yeah the clothing is a distraction. Too loud. But otherwise a pretty cool trailer.
May 21, 2011 at 3:43 AM
I was dying to see ” Angry ” mode of Bachchan, bit underwhelming.. last scene gave me the signature of AB….
May 20, 2011 at 12:34 PM
Where is Satyam? He needs to bring this tease in front.
May 20, 2011 at 12:40 PM
is it just me who feels it is a mix of BnB/Deewar(News one). DB ke samne tikna mushkil hai.
May 20, 2011 at 12:46 PM
Guys, even if movie does 25 cr or so , will be solid success.
And it does have that nostalgia and comic book feel to it.
Lets see. I will go with a prediction of success for the movie.
May 20, 2011 at 1:03 PM
if they keep the advertising strong it could do that much in opening week. Think the trailer hits the bull’s eye!
May 20, 2011 at 12:59 PM
This trailer is a hoot! Really enjoyed it!
May 20, 2011 at 1:02 PM
Note the series there… a lot of films mentioned, mostly recent stuff (was surprised to see Jaadugar mentioned) but only one name that isn’t a film. Tiger!
I’ve seen the trailer three times already. This could be very big.
May 20, 2011 at 1:39 PM
Indeed Sir, This will be very Big, Felt the promo was on the rustic side, as you mentioned above a complete masala, Felt like a dabang promo (when they first showed up). Hope it goes that way.
May 20, 2011 at 1:22 PM
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Super duper awesomely fantastic!!! Ok so my excitement levels regarding this film where really high but they like increased by a thousand times after watching this trailer!!! He truly is back!!!! Cannot cannot cannot wait for it’s release!!! ABsir ROCKS!!!!
May 20, 2011 at 1:43 PM
reminds me of the recent sallu bhai act in ‘wanted’ and ‘dabangg’. not saying that i hate it..but his act is a lift from those characters.
its certainly the most entertaining amitabh bachchan film trailer ive seen in a long long time.
May 20, 2011 at 1:49 PM
the common thing there is really the Southern link in each case. Dabanng is really a very Southern kind of characterization. before this Wanted was a remake. Here there’s a Southern director with Bbuddah. Of course the ‘original’ for this entire vein of representation is ultimately Bachchan himself! It is his history that through various refractions (which includes the Southern ‘twist’) now comes back to us this way.
It is really more in the BnB vein which is to say about gesturality more than anything else. Bachchan could in one sense do this sort of thing in his sleep just in the 80s! At this point though it’s all about referencing a history and not really ‘being’ the character. To this degree the late career of megastars is really an ‘intertextual’ deal. It is about other films in that history. We’ve seen this with Rajnikant for many years also. The recent stuff isn’t like his 80s masala. Because the former breathes on allusion with respect to the latter. This was Shankar’s great genius in Robot. He made the film true on both levels. But what must not be missed is that there is a masala ‘body’ and a masala ‘soul’. The two are not necessarily the same. And even in the South there was a ‘late’ masala that developed over time which incorporated the whole ironic stance that was often only implicit in the older stuff.
May 20, 2011 at 1:56 PM
“the common thing there is really the Southern link in each case. Dabanng is really a very Southern kind of characterization. before this Wanted was a remake. Here there’s a Southern director with Bbuddah. Of course the ‘original’ for this entire vein of representation is ultimately Bachchan himself! It is his history that through various refractions (which includes the Southern ‘twist’) now comes back to us this way”
yeah i will agree with that.
May 20, 2011 at 2:04 PM
Fun. I admit I was hoping for a more gritty Bachchan here. This seems a bit campy which is fine but hopefully it’s got some depth to it.
May 20, 2011 at 2:21 PM
I wasn’t expecting more than this based on the title.
May 20, 2011 at 2:05 PM
I have to wait for next one,. didn’t like it.
May 20, 2011 at 2:06 PM
It will all boil down to story and the context.
If fabricated, it is going to fall flat. If a genuinely new story is being told this can be a huge movie.
May 20, 2011 at 2:27 PM
The reactions so far on twitter are phenomenal!!! Really good sign
May 20, 2011 at 2:27 PM
They would have picked different release date, not to clash with Amir’s film.
He is coming up with another Munni…
May 20, 2011 at 2:28 PM
Puri’s films rarely have good story.
May 20, 2011 at 2:33 PM
and here again is the brief synopsis:
[]Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap marks the comeback of the Amitabh Bachchan…and he is angry!
He plays a retired hitman settled in Paris, who comes back to India to do ‘one last job’.
Amitabh exudes the style and attitude of a flamboyant man, young at heart. The film is a fast paced action thriller which showcases him in a never seen before stylized avatar with action and masala of a true Bollywood film with the “Original Action Hero”!
May 20, 2011 at 3:00 PM
Somehow did not much like Amitji’s get up in this..Awaiting for the next one..Nevertheless very mast in action..and can’t wait to see more of this.
May 20, 2011 at 3:32 PM
Raveen Tandon tweets
“Hey guys, doing a film buddahh hoga tera baap, its a comedy,but don’t expect much from me in that, I’m there just as a friendly appearance!.”
A Comedy movie??..Not sure from the above if she meant about the movie or her role in it..
May 20, 2011 at 3:45 PM
Hahahaha!!
“Main jab maarna shuroo karta hoon to maar hi deta hoon”…could it get any better?
But I wish that scene with him among half clad women would just disappear.
May 20, 2011 at 3:53 PM
An angry young man or an angry young pimp? That getup doesn’t work.
May 20, 2011 at 3:54 PM
But a fun trailer otherwise!!! Wish they had given him a more gritty look, a la Khakee rather than Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.
May 20, 2011 at 4:02 PM
“Wish they had given him a more gritty look, a la Khakee rather than Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.” .. Exactly my feeling .. I would love to see him without beard look .. enough of French beard now .. its almost 10 years, now time to shave it ..
May 20, 2011 at 5:11 PM
I agree with you..Wish he had new look with this one..maybe tried without beard..I guess Khakee was the last outing without that..Offcourse there was PAA..but that was totally different
May 20, 2011 at 4:53 PM
Yeah, this looks like fun, just not the fun I was expecting. It really seems more plugged into the Wanted/Dabangg zone more than the Bachchan archives. Of course the former is informed by the latter, but there’s a tone here that seems to border on parody. And its hard to see “anger” in such a context.
But that in no way hampers what looks to be a fun film!
May 20, 2011 at 4:57 PM
yes I agree completely that there’s no authentic angry young man here..
May 20, 2011 at 4:04 PM
Though i like it .. but something else was expecting .. I was expecting totally new look ..
May 20, 2011 at 5:19 PM
The only thing really got me excited about bachchans recent films is the second pic from the top in the “aarakhan” thread..
This has a bnb plus parody vibe but needs some “pseudo-substance” since people need some sort of “justification” even in this sort of genre…..
May 20, 2011 at 5:22 PM
agreed…
May 20, 2011 at 7:20 PM
i bet the story will end up…sonu sood finding out that he is buddahs son out of the blues amidst all these tensions in his circle area..and they all live happy everafter after an end reunion!!
May 20, 2011 at 7:12 PM
I was actually expecting waay more from the trailer. it just didn’t do anything for me. I actually liked Salman’s “Ready” trailor way more…again seems to be a similar genre, larger than life character.
I hope this doesn’t fall flat.
Just like many, I too was expecting a completely new look for BigB… dissapointing to see the same old look.
And what were they thinking in releasing this with Delhi Belly??? This is suicidal. You know Amir is going to be promoting the heck out of his movie, BHTB doesn’t have a chance in initials. This could come back and bite them.
I don’t know, I just don’t get a good feel about this movie… I hope that I’m wrong.
-Mahesh
May 20, 2011 at 7:26 PM
this is just a first look thing.. not an entire theatrical trailer..
May 20, 2011 at 7:31 PM
oh sorry. I thought this was the full trailer and the first look was just the silhouettes which were released couple of weeks or so ago.
I guess the first look should have had a bigger impact.. and I guess for me it just didn’t. Maybe I was expecting too much.
Hopefully after seeing the full trailer I am pleasantly surprised and have a change of heart.
-Mahesh
May 20, 2011 at 8:26 PM
those were teasers.. this is a first trailer but I think the theatrical trailer will be longer. Nonetheless it’s fair you didn’t like it because it’s certainly long enough to judge one way or the other.
May 20, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Great stuff. Does the trick.
Pleases the fan and puts the fear in fans of partisans.
By and large, seems to be very well received on the interweb.
May 20, 2011 at 10:12 PM
Does not seem to have a strong emotional base. Looks like mainly operating in comic zone with stylized action. Would have appreciated raw action and strong emotional conflicts. Suffering of the protagonist was the main emotional connect with the audience in the angry young man aura. One man against the whole system. Don’t know if the audience of today has the stomach for such films. But Bhuddah in the zone of Dabangg holds no appeal for me. It may turn out to be a well-made movie but will certainly fail to evoke nostalgia purely on the content basis. And i guess all the people here were looking for the Old Amitabh and disappointment is understandable.
May 20, 2011 at 10:14 PM
Off-topic, i recently saw Nishabd and i absolutely loved AB’s performance in it. WOW.
May 22, 2011 at 7:13 AM
“nishabd” is quite underrated, so are the performances in the film. its one of RGV’s better films from 2000-present
May 20, 2011 at 10:36 PM
WOW…this one looks great…FDFS for me…
May 20, 2011 at 11:56 PM
BBUDDAH promo is good but to be honest was expecting some things else..thought the movie name it self says not to take to seriously!!!
I was looking for new look (without beard) and serious action movie ..a kind of Khakee deal.
nevertheless will wait for theatrical promo !!!
Amit Pandey
HHyd,India
May 21, 2011 at 1:04 AM
The song is great. But the promo is one-dimensional and predictable. Nostalgia does not work. Making Jeetendra do his jumping Jack act will not draw audiences today. To work the Angry Old Man magic some solid content, a core dramatic element, was required and that is missing. ( Think Grand Torino of Clint Eastwood.) And all this Hawaiaan shirt and scantily cald girls make the promo look like , as someone said, a ‘ TV serial’ promo. As lame as the Always Kabhi Kabhi promo with SRK. Miserly with imagination and ambition.
Amiatbh is an iconic star, never to be matched perhaps. to geta load of his talent and charisma just listen to his Radio ad on Tanishq Diamonds.
May 21, 2011 at 1:08 AM
I don’t know what others were expecting… but with that title, I knew it was going to be a campy fun film that would read Amitabh’s angry young man in the only way that this present masala-decadent uninformed crowd can read. Of course, the ‘twist’ here is the presence of Amitabh… in a sense then, this re-reading, however spoofish, illegtimizes the other so-called parodies that disguised themseleves as homages or tributes to masala.
This trailer rocks btw. And the movie should be great fun.
May 21, 2011 at 1:11 AM
Btw, didn’t know there was Prakashraj here.
May 21, 2011 at 1:41 AM
looks to me Ab Sr character and dresses stole from a mix of movie characters from KANK,bhoothnath,ek ajnabi…
May 21, 2011 at 1:43 AM
Not at all what I expected but I am still hopeful that it will be a paisawasool fare…fingers crossed.
May 21, 2011 at 3:01 AM
Brilliant anger with humour is shown brilliantly in the promo. This will be very big. Angry old funny man will create Dhamaka.
May 21, 2011 at 4:34 AM
OT,
A R Rahman and Mick Jagger form supergroup
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-r-rahman-and-mick-jagger-form-supergroup/793649/
May 21, 2011 at 5:32 AM
superb promo. BIG B ROCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
May 21, 2011 at 7:34 AM
Sad to see that vijay is following chulbul pandey.
May 21, 2011 at 7:54 AM
Iamthat– good news about Rahman and jagger together…
Although Rahman is definitely a gentleman and a spiritual person we all love, I admire how he also has an eye for what’s happening around and rarely misses to catch onto good opportunities be it to work with andrew Lloyd webber or nusrat or Boyle or benegal or ghai/chopra and now this …
Plus he is the first one to be roghtl so forceful about patents in india…
Something streetsmart there as well( in a good way)…
Things cannot be credited to “postliberalisation india” and “abundant opportunities”.. Even competition is more and one has to play the game well as well( in addition to unique talent. In his case)
May 21, 2011 at 9:31 AM
You are trying to say wolf in sheep’s clothing.
May 21, 2011 at 3:45 PM
“You are trying to say wolf in sheep’s clothing.”–Not at all….
There is a spectrum where a person is a saint oblivious to anything practical and suffers due to this naivety…
Then there is another end of the spectrum where the predominant component is manipulation, deceipt and even thuggery….
ARR falls MUCH more towards the former end than the latter (which is where it SHOULD be IMO in todays world)
He is creditably not AT the former end though (ie not a totally saintly naive “fool”) …
Same is true somewhat for Sachin Tendulkar…
Also feel the same about MMSingh (although not to the same extent)…
Hope that xplains it in graphic terms , Ms Vatikala….lol
May 21, 2011 at 8:52 PM
How do you know it is “Ms Vatikala” and not Mr Vatikala….hahahahha…U keep guessing dude
May 22, 2011 at 3:28 AM
The spectrum must not have opposite values. Similar values but difference in degrees. Then only an honest and true assessment can be made. All the above 3 are not saints by any yardstick. They are not sacrificing or living for others. They are living for themselves doing hard work and getting paid for it. All the above 3 display a lot of gentleness and diplomacy. And they are relatively honest and better human beings. And we admire them for their achievements. Their innate simplicity may be the reason for that extra something about them.
May 22, 2011 at 3:40 AM
yes , Im glad u seem to habe got the point now,Miss VAtikala…
Yes these three are not saints as u said.
But the good thing is that they are hardworking, focussed and as non-controversial as can be in their respective professions…
IN the case of ARR, I am curious about how a person like him can get transformed from AR Duleep kumar to AR Rahman.
NOT from a communal point of view, but just from a sociopsychological point of view….
And how much of this innate urge is inducement (if at all)
Anyhow it is an example of the good side of religion where a person gets the requisite focus, poise and anchor as in the case of ARR
( obviously the talent had to be there)
May 22, 2011 at 3:41 AM
Among them, MMSingh’s role is the most difficult one as he has to work with so many forces pulling him while risking his personal reputation and being called weak, puppet, dishonest and every other thing. Uneasy lies the head that wears that crown of thorns.
May 22, 2011 at 3:47 AM
Alex, we can also say that marrying hindu girls made the famous Khans achieve that extra mile. Inspiration from hindu girls. Haha.
May 21, 2011 at 8:36 AM
It was not long ago when Abhi was replaced by Rana due to date issue media and some people here too manufactured the story of strain relationship betn bachchans and Ramu and how wrong and insensitive they were because Ab just thanked Ramu for his strong persuasive effort to go for Bbuddha .
May 21, 2011 at 2:34 PM
Twitch Film
Amitabh Bachchan Shows Who’s Boss In BBUDDAH First Look Trailer
by J Hurtado, May 20, 2011
A new Amitabh Bachchan action film? Now THIS is exciting!
Amitabh Bachchan has been one of Bollywood’s top stars for the last 40 years, and he built his early career on roles as an angry young man in films like Sholay, Don, Coolie, Deewar, Zanjeer, and many more. In these films Amitabh, or Big B as I will refer to him for the rest of this entry, played a badass who didn’t give a FUCK and got shit done.
Obviously as he’s aged, quite gracefully I might add, he’s had to pull back from that role in films and he has made a respectable career of playing patriarchal characters in a large number of hugely successful films, sometimes paired with current Bollywood kingpin, Shah Rukh Khan, and several times with his own son, Abhishek Bachchan. In many of these films he’s played respectable Indian men, but once in a while, like in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar films, he gets to play someone nasty, but typically the action element of these films has been left to the younger men. Not anymore.
As usual, there isn’t much plot revealed at this point, but it seems that it is a romantic comedy about a man with a quick temper. Frankly, I don’t much care. The trailer looks like a lot of fun. Big B is kickin’ asses and takin’ names, there are some fun looking musical numbers, and he co-stars with the beautiful Hema Malini, which is never a bad thing. I think the trailer speaks for itself in this case, and I can’t wait to see some more footage!
Bbuddah – Hoga Tera Baap is scheduled to release on July 1st, but these dates are always flexible when it comes to Indian films.
http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/05/amitabh-bachchan-shows-whos-boss-in-bbuddah-first-look-trailer.php
May 21, 2011 at 3:02 PM
Watched it a couple more times.
My only grouse is the beard and some of the sun glasses. Otherwise, this seems very well crafted. This is an action thriller with comedic elements. No ‘subtexts’ or deep meaning/anguish. As said before ‘campy’ fun but seems like lots of fun.
It seems reaction is mostly positive.Some diehard fans who were expecting something different are a little disappointed.Otherwise the few negative sentiments are from expected quarters. A lot of Aamir fans seem scared tho they dont need to be.As this is really not going to dent DB’s collections which should be just fine.
I expect DB to get to above 50 crores and this one to make it to 40 crores. This will rock the single screens.
I trust Doga’s numbers, less so his analysis and put no stock in his predictions. Somewhere else (NOT HERE) – he made the following comment:
‘At the very max if it does 25+ cr that will be great for it.’
Am not sure what he is implying. If he means that the ceiling for the film is 25 crores, he is in for a surprise.
May 21, 2011 at 4:35 PM
agreed on all counts here.. if BBuddah takes off there will be a certain novelty here.. similarly ZNMD will probably affect the DB demographic more than anything else.
May 21, 2011 at 3:59 PM
Yes, Rajen, i do have Bbuddah at around mid 20′s and DB around high 30′s lifetime.
I have mentioned that about Bbuddah couple of times(in other threads here too).
More than predictions i would call them expectations at which i think the movie’s will reach comfortable solid success range.
Ofcourse i am ready to be surprised and will be more than happy if proven wrong (and i have been many times).
May 21, 2011 at 4:02 PM
I have rated all July Movies 10-15% less than i would have otherwise because they are jam packed.
Take a look at this,
June 24th – Double Dhamaal
July 1st – Delhi Belly, Bbuddah
July 8th – ZNMD, HP8
July 15th – Singham
July 22nd – Murder 2
July 29th or so – Mausam
Regardless of the merit of a particular movie, they will lose screening left right and centre because all the Exhibitors care for is “Taaza Maal” even if its for the weekend.
Producers can only dictate the shows and screenings for first week and even that has weakened post the deal between Producers-Exhibitors.
May 21, 2011 at 4:14 PM
dogA–whats the latest verdict on DMD
I wasnt following this, so whats ur estimation for DB and Buddha
and y should abhi not move buddha to the next (clear) week—whats the harm other than bruised egos (which anyhow shouldnt be there in his case)?
May 21, 2011 at 4:36 PM
the next week is not clear. ZNMD releases a week later.
May 21, 2011 at 4:42 PM
Doga has it at flop like BOI as someone mentioned earlier. Taran has it at average to below average. Nahata stopped talking about it after the first weekend. The thing is I am willing to live with the ‘average’ tag on DMD if a lot of other films are recalibrated. But as always a new set of criteria arises for each film and general terms like ‘costs’ and what not has never cut it for me. For example there is simply no way, no way at all that even with DMD’s total of 31 crores or so at BOI, that they would have called it a flop with any other star.
I will say however that as a perception matter DMD is definitely some kind of success, specially with the younger target demographic. And as I’ve said before I am wiling to make a bet that when the next Rohan/Abhishek film comes around both BM and DMD will be referred to as hits and people will talk about their ‘golden’ combo and what not. There is definitely some gray area here. Did extremely well in certain multiplexes but also very poorly in others. With this sort of film a ‘universal’ tag any which way is often misleading. I of course thought it would do more than it did and a lot more but reflecting on it later I realized that this too is a film that argues ‘against’ the ‘values’ of the multiplex generation and I have never seen a film do this and become a blockbuster. None whatsoever.
In any case the blockbuster remains elusive for Abhishek. Players might do the trick.
May 22, 2011 at 4:37 AM
satyam, i have more trust on bol bachchan than players, because of it’s genre, since bb is outright comedy film, so it can attract all section of crowd, and rohit shetty has dream run at bo in recent times, for players, it all depends on the treatment of movie, to encash the success of dmd, ab should do outright action, intense, youthful movie with indian sentiments, i think that type of film will fetch biggest opening of his career, becasue young audience want to see him as an angry young man, after achieving decent bo success, he shold go for his risky choice that will satisfy his authentic fans like me and you.
May 22, 2011 at 5:26 AM
DMD will not be called a s a hit.Th chances of Tashan caled a a hit are more.
May 21, 2011 at 5:03 PM
I will agree that the perception of DMD is more of a success in Media. Would put it in as Plus for Abhi compared to what he had last 6 months coming into it.
I though never follow BOI verdicts.
If i put DMD in red, same time i have the likes of Thank you,KI,DDD,Veer etc as Flops which BOI rates Avg etc.
Along the same line, MNIK and TMK comes around Avg rating per me, which BOI has Hit and Semihit resp.
May 21, 2011 at 5:29 PM
DMD definitely deserved to be a hit…
A v good film
well directed, written, one could see the effort and talent.
Even Abhi acted well
the music was above par for this subject,,
HAve yet to hear of a person who found this bad.
Overall a good deal for abhi and sippy although they will feel cheated here of a the “hit” status…
I have little respect and patience for this antic of killing of abhi the way it was dont before the climax.
This is INDIAN audience we are talking about!!!
I am of the firm belief that this ONE decision cost this film more than 10-15 crores and a hit tag!!!
May 22, 2011 at 12:13 AM
yes that definitely cost the film a fair bit even if unlike SR I think this ending makes much more sense within the film’s contexts.
May 22, 2011 at 5:30 AM
DMD didnt trend well.It was rejected by audiences.
May 21, 2011 at 11:36 PM
considering how Hollywood films r doing currently all releases in june , july has to factor in Green lantern , TF3 and harry potter 7 part 2 .
May 22, 2011 at 3:22 AM
aamir not scared of big b
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Aamir-isnt-scared-of-Big-B/articleshow/8490803.cms
May 22, 2011 at 3:24 AM
Another addition to DB and Buddha….
Bhansali scared of SRKs item number…
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Bhansali-postpones-film-for-SRK/articleshow/8490915.cms
May 22, 2011 at 3:36 AM
More the merrier.
May 22, 2011 at 5:14 AM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Brits-make-lazy-managers-UK-a-spent-force-Tata/H1-Article1-700349.aspx
Agree with what Tata says..
Britain is still living in past glory and has to pull up its socks……
May 22, 2011 at 7:22 AM
exactly what i expected from this movie: a self-aware, winking campy actioner. you just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. i think this film will be a lot of fun….
May 22, 2011 at 9:45 AM
I feel a golden opportunity is lost by the Bachchans. All the young Bachchan’s scenes could have been enacted by junior Bachchan. Thus we could have seen his interpretation of Bachchan’s iconic roles whether it is Don, Agneepath or other action thrillers. There is no thrill watching Bachchan doing the same thing. But with junior Bachchan doing those roles, the novelty factor would have been there. Why blame Karan Johar if Bachchans themselves ignore their junior? there would have been those stupid comparisons. But the risk was worth taking.
May 22, 2011 at 10:22 AM
Abhishek has never been interested in simply ‘repeating’ his father.
May 22, 2011 at 10:27 AM
But others like srk and hrithik are repeating and getting brownie points. In this particular film, it is not actually a repetition. It can be called interpretation. Atleast Junior Bachchan fans would have been interested. I think junior respects his father too much and is in awe of him to even think of this.
May 22, 2011 at 10:36 AM
I don’t think to be honest anyone else has really prospered repeating Bachchan. Don is all about hype and if the first one did half decently SRK could have had a much bigger grosser with that much effort if he’d picked a different subject. We still have to see how Agneepath goes. No one really considers these films very credible as Bachchan repeats. If they’re enjoyable on their own terms people watch them without ever feeling these are a patch on the originals. Or there are those who’ve never seen the originals and don’t care either way. But with Abhishek the stakes would always be higher. Because of his more immediate connection but also because people would expect a more performance oriented serious part from him. I am not opposed to all remakes, just dumb ones. And I think trying to remake some very iconic Bachchan stuff is silly. Rohan Sippy has had the Shaan idea for a while. If he ever got to this I wouldn’t mind Abhishek here (even if the film is already too cool to be bettered!). So there is some stuff. But remakes must have a point. Getting back to SRK and Hrithik these remakes become media stories but the larger audience doesn’t read these films that way. No one thinks there’s any sort of comparison to be established between Bachchan and SRK on Don or Bachchan and Hrithik on Agneepath. And much like SRK on Don Hrithik too could have done something different with better results. This sort of deal becomes a ‘high’ for these stars (hey I’m doing Amitabh!) but it doesn’t mean much beyond the immediate. and on Abhishek leaving aside all of this he is definitely in awe of his father (who wouldn’t be?!) but I also think he just doesn’t want that sort of piggyback deal. And I cannot argue with him here. I wish he’d do more proper masala but I’ve never advanced the remake idea in this context.
May 22, 2011 at 10:44 AM
“This sort of deal becomes a ‘high’ for these stars (hey I’m doing Amitabh!) ….”
did u miss amitabh getting a ‘high’ with doing Amjad Khan in rgv ki aag….
May 22, 2011 at 10:58 AM
RGV’s Aag was a disaster in many ways but Bachchan playing that part was the least of them. Even otherwise this ‘remake’ was a very experimental sort of deal. There was as much ‘Sholay’ in it as there is dozens of films. If RGV had never brought up the Sholay comparison no one would have even bothered about this context very much. The thing is that this film tries to stay as far as possible from all the film’s original contexts despite using the plot and characters.The film was definitely a mess in every sense but RGV nonetheless did a favor to many SRK partisans (and sometimes simply anti-Bachchan folks) who could then point out this film everytime Don was brought up as a poor remake. Suddenly this group became the greatest defender of Amjad Khan and the ‘sanctity’ of Sholay. This from a group that otherwise finds KKHH challenging cinema. Gimme a break!
I actually have a consistent position here. I found Aag a total disgrace. Didn’t mind the idea initially precisely because of the experimental sense of the film but even otherwise I thought having Bachchan and Lal together would be worth it somehow. RGV couldn’t satisfy even on this front. Don was a joke, Agneepath looks to be at least as big of one if not bigger. And even when Abhishek was in the running here (at least in the media stories) I wasn’t happy about it though I felt he should have done it as a favor to his father (though given the way this film has developed since on every level I am quite glad he isn’t in it). So some of us have some ethics and consistency about these things. Not like those who like any genre, any sort of film, any director, any setup as long as their favorite star attempts it! Here I will at least give the Hrithik fans this much — they have generally not expressed any degree of excitement or pleasure over Agneepath. Sure if it’s a hit they’ll be pleased. Can hardly blame them for this. Within the SRK brigade though there was hardly any such honesty about Don. Henry stood out at the time and now for not liking the film. But this was a rare example. Don’t have a problem with anyone liking or loving SRK. It is just this sort of dishonest politics that I have constantly battled.
May 22, 2011 at 6:51 PM
“But others like srk and hrithik are repeating and getting brownie points.”
Let Abhishek first stop giving disasters and then try his fathers movies…Some one wrote Abhishek is not interested…lol…I bet he can not even dare to attempt…
About other stars… lol as if other stars have done dozens of remakes of AB’s movies…just one movies does not affect their careers….It’s not like that SRK was finished and DON was a Saviour for him…it’s the opposite…If you are remaking a film…ppl are always ready to criticize…
May 22, 2011 at 10:15 AM
Nice to see Bachchan in an action role, but this film seems a bit too comic for my taste…
May 22, 2011 at 11:06 AM
“All the young Bachchan’s scenes could have been enacted by junior Bachchan. Thus we could have seen his interpretation of Bachchan’s iconic roles whether it is Don, Agneepath or other action thrillers. There is no thrill watching Bachchan doing the same thing. But with junior Bachchan doing those roles, the novelty factor would have been there. Why blame Karan Johar if Bachchans themselves ignore their junior? there would have been those stupid comparisons.”—actually Miss Vatikala has a good point there!!
Surprisingly Abhishek never takes the same”rash” “careless” decsions when ABCL is the producer.
May 22, 2011 at 11:09 AM
I want this film to work and with the 10 crore odd budget , this film is already a “Hit” in the conventional terms.
But being a real hardcore “original” bachchan fan (sic), I am still not comfortable with the idea of Bachchans having to curtail the budget of a film to around 10 crores to “design” a hit.
The main reason is that we are not talking about an ordirary actor but the single biggest box-office force in indian history—(but that is a fan speaking and reality changes with time)
Alas, things change and in a real sense, it is good that Bachchans are being realistic and humble about it.
The next thing i would like is for them to go all out and move this out of DBs same day release…..
As pointed out, there has to be a premise of “pseudosubstance” to the proceedings here.
Nostalgia will take things to safety but only as far…
ps—good to see that qalander is stilla live n “kicking”….
May 22, 2011 at 11:13 AM
“Even otherwise this ‘remake’ was a very experimental sort of deal.”
Lol Satyam dont tell me RGV ki aag was experimental…. while with Don and Agneepath, the actors are getting a high. atleast they are not making it a pathetic show like what bachan dis as gabbar singh.
May 22, 2011 at 11:24 AM
well as long as there are ‘fans’ happy with SRK doing Don the way he did I guess there’s no problem. Bachchan fans one and all rejected Aag. It’s a question of taste I suppose!
My only point here is that RGV did a Sholay ‘remake’ in experimental terms. the experiment turned out to be a disaster but even if it hadn’t been one it would still not have been a routine sort of remake. Whereas Don and Agneepath are just shamelessly cynical attempts.
May 22, 2011 at 1:12 PM
“. Bachchan fans one and all rejected Aag. ”
but then they mention only Don whenever they talk about bad remakes… but not aag. example- your post above. Its only when somebody reminds them how pathetic bachchan was trying to copy amjad khan that they come out saying just what you said.
you came up with a more ‘classy’ defense… that aag was an experimental film!! never heard that before… even from rgv.
May 22, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Because there’s a difference between a titan like Amitabh bachchan playing Amjad Khan and pygmies like SRK playing Amitabh Bachchan! Irrespective of how legendary a role like Gabbar Singh is there is otherwise no match between the talents of Bachchan and Amjad Khan. And I have argued against remakes more than anyone else. I have argued against Bachchan’s very own original films on his own blog and those comments are reproduced here. It’s not my problem if people develop blindness all of a sudden with respect to these and only spot the SRK ones. This whole Don defense of ‘hey Don’s not too bad, look at Aag’ is utterly cynical. As a matter of fact I’d rather watch Don than Aag any day of the week but that doesn’t mean Don is a good film. That also doesn’t mean that one should be forced to attack Aag everytime Don is brought up. Specially when the purpose of each film is very different. And anyone who cannot see this with these two films is already suffering from blindness. It’s like Boom. An experiment that misfired but Boom too wasn’t trying to be ‘regular’!
And Bachchan precisely wasn’t copying Amjad Khan. That was the whole point! But again when folks like yourself who otherwise consider MNIK an art film and probably define KHNH as the height of cutting edge cinema suddenly become great defenders of Sholay and Gabbar allow me to snicker a little! As for this defense (which it wasn’t intended to be, I quite loathe Aag) being ‘classy’. Here I plead guilty — whenever Amitabh Bachchan’s name comes up one is forced to be classy. Can’t extend the same courtesy to self-proclaimed baadshahs who talk about pulling down their pants to reveal their Muslimness!
May 23, 2011 at 12:53 PM
Well said, again, I could never put these thougts in words, Seriously, DON has been my ultimate fav of AB sr, along with Muqadar Ka Sikandar, Mr. Natwarlal..oops many more..and ofcourse Agneepath remake is making me cringe all the more, on Abhishek doing remakes, just like you I am glad that he is not. Let Hrithiks and Srks sons (which they will) make Abhisheks remakes when they are grown up and make films ( I BET my life they will remake Drona, in next 20 odd years Indian Cinema is gonna be all about Super Heroes just like Hollywood right now, at that time they will look for “inspirations”. BTW, they are doing away with Mithun’s character, I know you said that you didnt care much for his character in original anyway. But, always loved his character, I gues they couldnt find an actor that can do justice to what Mithun did (no rampals, or chunkey pandey’s or sanjay kapoor can pull this off – see chamchas for that clique). Royally pissed off about the Agneepath remake though. We should boycott this film, I ASK ALL BACHCAN FANS WHO LOVED AGNEEPATH TO NOT GO WATCH ANGEEPATH IN THE THATERS, WHY LET THEM MAKE MONEY AND TAG IT AS HIT, IF IT BOMBS MAYBE THESE BACHCHAN REMAKES WILL STOP. AGAIN, ALL BACHCHAN/AGNEEPATH FANS LETS BOYCOTT THE ANGEEPATH REMAKE AND NOT GO WATCH IT IN THE THEATER.
May 23, 2011 at 1:02 PM
You’re perhaps right in that if one truly feels strongly about these things one should boycott the films in question. I must admit I saw Don in the theater. a weakness where I generally like to check out big releases in the theater, specially if I feel there might be a visual payoff in some sense (even where I am otherwise not interested). But again this gets the job done for the producer. Why one goes isn’t exactly important to the him (or her). So yes perhaps I should boycott Agneepath and Don 2. With the latter though ‘prison-gang Don’ seems to be such a delightful absurdity that one almost feels bad considering a boycott!
May 23, 2011 at 1:16 PM
I was at my local Indian store a couple of days ago. The guy who runs it is from Ahmedabad and something of a friend and we often get into movie discussions. Anyway this guy has been on the lookout for that big Abhishek film for a long time. He clearly doesn’t care for all the ‘different’ stuff. On Bbuddah his sense was that this was the sort of thing Abhishek ought to do. My own ‘thesis’ here is that people often cannot precisely define what they want. I think if Abhishek really became ‘like’ his father in terms of doing the latter’s iconic stuff and coming up with similar performances this kind of ‘ghosting’ wouldn’t really satisfy the audiences. Nonetheless there is a gap here and this is something I’ve always argued for — there is a question of ‘Bachchan’ specters when it comes to Abhishek. What people really want is a role and film that will satisfy those aspirations. In other words Bachchan’s son must be ‘Bachchan-like’ but not as some would suggest literally so but by finding an equivalent of that signature in the present. It could be a BnB or a Sarkar or a Guru. But something that is not just about a hit or the box office but that brings through the Bachchan ‘difference’. This is why people liked him a lot precisely when he was most ‘overman’. This is true even for BM though as a box office matter the ending complicates expectations (even disappoints them). If you had the DMD guy (to use one example) doing the right kind of masala script the box office would explode. But there is (and I’ve always found this fascinating) something that stops Abhishek from going down this route. If he could produce Bbuddah for his father he could certainly produce something similar for himself and with the same budget. There are tons of Southern remakes he could do. There are other options. But he stays away from them. He might well do one if the right offer comes along on a platter (as with the Prabhudeva film, which I hope will see some life after the current Akshay venture) but he is not willing to really bring it about. The question then becomes: why this hesitation? He doesn’t have to do his father’s remakes, he could do masala generically. Even as I’ve often analyzed the ways in which his post-career has been rather ‘odd’ at many levels and even as I’ve tried to understand the box office story here as well as his ‘choices’ in many different ways the one point that cannot be missed is that he never quite produces the post-BnB ‘encounter’ that the audiences have waited for for just about forever. Even to the point of giving up on him. In an equally strange way ‘disappointment’ is not written into many of Abhishek’s films where either the most interesting projects are those the audience doesn’t like and/or doesn’t appreciate his interventions in but even where the films are liked there is something to complicate matters as with the DMD ending. So whether it’s a post-BnB thing or a post-Sarkar thing where you want the ‘son’ to finally ‘rise’ and take over and see it as such at that point the journey since has been by and large (barring Guru) one of ‘frustration’. Anyway I got into all of this because of that anecdote I presented. This is guy who liked BnB and Guru and Sarkar. He clearly does not await a Dhoom sort of deal from Abhishek though he’ll enjoy it on its own terms. He’s looking for that ‘difference’ and this is something I’ve picked up anecodotally in other contexts as well.
May 23, 2011 at 1:12 PM
bachchan fans are against remakes, even if bachchan has acted in it, this is not question of aag, don, or agneepath, this is the question of lack of creativity, so many remakes in same era, this is more fault of directors than stars, they want to remain in safe zone, either they are mediocare or they want to play it safe,
May 22, 2011 at 2:13 PM
Lol@ mnik as art film and Khnh as the height of cutting edge cinema and pulling down pants to prove muslimness…..
Hahaha
May 22, 2011 at 2:16 PM
“Because there’s a difference between a titan like Amitabh bachchan playing Amjad Khan and pygmies like SRK playing Amitabh Bachchan!”
Lol satyam…. you are a true bachchan fan! pygmies needs fans like you…. atleast other actors dont need such fans.
May 22, 2011 at 2:45 PM
yeah the difference the pygmy and the titan was so much visible in the way the audience received the two films– Don and aag. They knew very well who the pygmy was…. didnt bother to give him even 15% opening. well, the pygmy’s fans still live in a different world though
May 22, 2011 at 4:09 PM
Let’s see how SRK does at 50 let alone 69! Forget in an RGV film. the real pygmies are those stars are those fans who lack even the most elementary understanding of history and/or who choose to ignore it to advance an agenda in the present by using the most asymmetric comparisons. This is kind of mindset which goes after sachin after 20 years or more in the game for not doing at the age of 38 in literal terms what a Chris Gayle can or what not.
RGV ki Aag is nothing more than a propaganda cry for many like you. Let SRK get his 100 crore grosser first, let him first match Aamir’s milestones or even Salman’s Dabanng one. Let him first get ahead of his contemporaries. Then we can talk about legends! There is nothing wrong in being a great fan of Yuvraj as long as one doesn’t confuse him with Sachin Tendulkar!
As I’ve said before the seated elephant is nonetheless taller than the standing horse! forget mules and half-breeds!
May 22, 2011 at 5:42 PM
“…the seated elephant is nonetheless taller than the standing horse! forget mules and half-breeds!”
CLASSIC!!!! doesn’t get any better than this. Respect Mr. Satyam…Total Respect
May 23, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Agreed, TOTAL RESPECT for Satyam, You make us Proud to be a Bachchan fan that you are one too. Take a bow my friend. take a bow. De Ghuma Ke.
May 23, 2011 at 1:07 PM
anuj, srk can not stand even nearer to big b, i agree aag was disaster, but, the you can not rate any actor or star on one particular film, srk have given dozens of hits, but amitabh is the face of indian cinema, has given many iconic performance, at even at this age he can surprise with his performance, in last decade srk has given only two memorable performance first devdas and second chak de india, and even at this age big b has given number of memorable performance in last decade, as in sarkar, black, paa, baghban, aks, khakee, dev etc. in last decade srk cannot stand nearer to aamir, right now, he is way ahead of srk, in his hey days bigb dosen’t need any marketing or publicity stunt, his name was enough to full the theatres for first 5-7 weeks, he was one man industry, against his film no one dares to release their film even after 3-4 weeks, srk is superstar, while amitabh is living legend, an institution. you see at this age when his contemptories have retired, he has been flooded with offers, even today his name interests many people, personally thinking old classics should not remade, their concepts with newer vision are more interesting and viable, rgv has made diaster while remaking sholay, but when he has used the concept of godfather with indian settings in sarkar, now sarkar is cult classic.
May 22, 2011 at 4:44 PM
Will Johar Take RGV’s Punch Lying Down?
Mid-Day.com
Sunday, May 22, 2011 (Mumbai)
AND the Karan Johar-Ram Gopal Varma saga continues. After a bit of a lull, Varma has thrown in a big right hook. As Johar readies to remake Agneepath with Hrithik Roshan, Varma has not only got his dear friend Puri Jagannath to cast Amitabh Bachchan in Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap, he has also gotten his friend to name Bachchan’s character in the film, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. As one might remember Bachchan played Vijay Dinanath Chauhan in the original Agneepath. This is Telugu director Jagannath’s first film in Hindi and Varma introduced him to Bachchan.
According to a source, when it came to giving a name to Bachchan’s character in Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap, Varma suggested Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. “His name in the film is no coincidence. Everyone knows Ramu loves to provoke Karan. Karan is remaking Agneepath with Hrithik, and by naming Amitabh Chauhan, Ramu wants to draw attention to the real Vijay Dinanath Chauhan.”
Varma and Johar have had many showdowns in the past. Varma once claimed Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna was the scariest film he had ever seen. Johar, later, took a potshot at Varma, after Phoonk 2 bombed, tweeting, “I have not seen Phoonk or Phoonk 2. I am sure Phoonk 3 will not be made.” Varma then retorted on Twitter, “I’ve completed scripting Phoonk 3 and I’m planning to approach Johar to act opposite the crow.”
However, when asked about his role in naming Bachchan’s character, Varma feigned ignorance. “I am not guilty of this,” was his reply. Now we are waiting for Johar’s retaliation.
Ramu can fight, sala
Varma once claimed Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna was the scariest film he had ever seen. Johar took a potshot at Varma, after Phoonk 2 bombed, tweeting, “I have not seen Phoonk or Phoonk 2. I am sure Phoonk 3 will not be made.” Varma then retorted on Twitter, “I’ve completed scripting Phoonk 3 and I’m planning to approach Johar to act opposite the crow.”
Later, Johar tweeted, “Early morning dreams come true? I dreamt I was watching Phoonk 2 and holding RGV’s hand in fear. Is this possible?” Varma, however, was quick with his reply. “Well, I don’t know about Phoonk 2, but I’m scared of the Karan Johar hand-holding part.”
May 22, 2011 at 4:44 PM
wonder if there’s any truth to Bachchan having that name in the film.. hope not.. sounds too gimmicky..
May 22, 2011 at 5:51 PM
On a different note… saw Sarkar Raj again today… Thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Ab Jr. enacted the part really well! Would love to see him in these kind of roles again. Thought that Aishwariya was really good as well.
RGV has left the door open for part 3… anyone think it will be made?
May 22, 2011 at 6:41 PM
yeah this is one of my favorite Abhishek performances…
May 22, 2011 at 6:53 PM
Did not care for Sarkar Raaj…Sarkar was very very good though…
May 23, 2011 at 7:59 AM
whats the point to comment if u don’t care ?
May 22, 2011 at 6:41 PM
Amitabh Bachchan caught two-timing
KMS
Posted On Monday, May 23, 2011 at 03:33:52 AM
In Viacom18 and AB Corp’s Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap, Amitabh Bachchan is taking ‘cool’ to the next level.
Along with designer scarves, denims and branded glares, the Big B will be seen sporting not one but two watches on his wrist.
And this, by the way, was his own touch to the styling of his character in the film.
Looks like the Big B has lots of time on his hands these days.
May 22, 2011 at 7:06 PM
@0.56 mark in the teaser 2 watches are quite visible.
May 23, 2011 at 9:10 AM
“Amitabh Bachchan caught two-timing”
I hate these sensational titles they give to “news worthy” items these day!
May 23, 2011 at 6:12 AM
sonu sood is fed up of buddah and shouts..loud “abey bhuddeh”..and buddah responce in his mind “buddah hoga tera baap”..which is a fact in the films storyline..my 2 cents!
May 23, 2011 at 8:14 AM
I’m curious about Hemaji’s role here is she like the estranged wife or something? I heard Raveena is the other love interest, wonder about that angle too.
May 23, 2011 at 8:18 AM
Bachchan seems to have the cake and eat it too. And also all the pastries.
May 23, 2011 at 9:12 AM
The man with midas touch for sure…laughing all the way to the bank (not to mention other international awards and such)…no wonder everyone (all other lessers “stars”) are so jealous of him!!
May 23, 2011 at 10:47 AM
Agree! He’s the best!
May 23, 2011 at 8:42 AM
There is one south actress too .. Sonal or something ..
May 23, 2011 at 10:46 AM
I think Sonal is opposite Sonu Sood
May 23, 2011 at 9:56 AM
I would have liked an arrogant-jokey Amitabh with ‘serious-on-the-job’ type character more… hope there’s more substance to it.
Thumbs marginally up, Roger that!
May 23, 2011 at 1:50 PM
“almost feels bad considering a boycott!” , Did they feel bad before even considering a remake of DON? im sure not,So dont feel bad, Also, hate the fact that at some award shows, concerts etc he was getting himself introduced as DON, NOOOOOO YOU ARE NOT THE “DON” someone really needs to put this guy into his place. Same goes for the Agneepath remake, really hope Hrithik does not go around town claimiing the one and only “Vijay Denanath Chauhan” and starts mouthing the dialogues of it “intro scene especially”. If Amitabh wanted he could have done the samething with Gabbar, go around town and start mouthing kitne aadmin the etc etc, but he knows his limits that the performance that by AK was legendary, he just did his take on it, lets not steal away what Amjad khan did for sholay” really wish and hope these guys dont do that, which one of them is already doing by claiming himself to be don every now and then, talk about your characters that you played (dont they wish they were as memorable as don’s so he does not have to depend on Don”) i dont see srk talk about ANY of his characters? Does he? right, guy needs to shut up. as you all can see i am ..so frustrated with these remakes. Sorry to blast it out here and you guys at to read it. TO ALL BACHCHAN/AGNEEPATH FANS, BOYCOTT WATCHING AGNEEPATH IN THE THEATERS, WHY LET THEM CLAIM IT AS A HIT AND OPEN DOORS FOR OTHER BACHCHAN REMAKES, LETS BOYCOTT AGNEEPATH, LETS START A MOVEMENT BACHCHAN FANS”
May 23, 2011 at 2:42 PM
I feel like giving you a hug right now, you took the words right out of my mouth!!! Honestly couldn’t have said it better myself! I could not stand the remake of Don, I’m sorry but SRK could not pull of either the role of or Don or Vijay properly.Lets not get into the so called “brilliant ending” which made absolutely no sense, I mean how in the world does a heavily wounded Don manage to knock out Vijay drag him into his place, learn all his mannerisms and even sing the “Khaike Paan” song is beyond me! It is honestly an absolute insult when certain people praise this pathetic excuse for a remake. I feel the same annoyance everytime SRK tries to parade as Don, there’s is only one Don and that aint you!
Like you I am completely against remakes and not just of Amitji’s movies but of any movie, it just shows what a lack of creativity directors are suffering from! I for one have no intentions of being tortured by watching Don 2 nor do I plan on watching Agneepath at the theatres so I am absolutely for this boycott!
And as a BigB fan I can honestly say that I hated Aag but atleast ABsir didn’t try to take anything away from Amjad Khan.
May 23, 2011 at 2:57 PM
Hehe, Thank You filmifan, Big Hug back to you, When I said that I FINALLY found like minded site, I wasnt kidding, All you guys believe in same kind of films (its just not about bachchans), yes, we may look at it differently and take different things from a scene, song, dialougue etc, but at the endof the road. Our taste for cinema is pretty much the same (Sorry to use “our” so loosely). Hey, thats what I come out with from this site. Nice, humble peope who do take others opinions and thought respectfully. No ego hassles here. Love it here. Peace Out.
May 26, 2011 at 4:55 AM
@ Kash–I agree with your remark a few comments below–that Vinod Chopra’s Kareeb is a sweet film. I think you and I are some of the few to have liked it. Haven’t seen Parinda–but have seen that VVC directed murder mystery starring Sabana Azmi and others. Watched it on tv once and liked it.
May 26, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Yup, Khamoshi is a very interesting film of its time, However, It is “inspired” from a hollywood or a french film (cant recall the name). Nonetheless, Yes VVC is one of the few directors that I admire and learned a lot from. YOU HAVE TO WATCH PARINDA, I personally think its his best work.
May 23, 2011 at 10:52 PM
Remakes, remixes are really showing disrespect to the originals and an effort to confuse. It is disquised as tribute. They tried to remake iconic Sangam with Sunny and Sridevi and failed miserably. Even Sridevi’s Chaalbaaz pales in comparison with Seetha aur Geetha. And the most pathetic title snatching is that of Golamal by Rohit Shetty. And now they do not even want to leave the original lie in peace making a modern version. In this way, every good movie will have to deal with copies of it. But many people loved Chaalbaaz because of Sridevi’s impeccable comic timing and also loved the pacy Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin which was a copy of It happened one night and also the subsequent Chori Chori. Raj Kapoor copied Chaplin, Dev Anand tried to copy Gregory Peck. That may be the reason why Dilip Kumar’s originality makes him the best actor of all times. He never copied, never took inspiration from anybody and became the one whom every other actor tried to copy. There are other original actors too but they Dilip Kumar stands out because of his stardom and long innings. Here I am talking about Bollywood.But there is this younger generation most of whom are completely unaware of the original. Thus SRK’s Devdas has become a hit with this generation. So there will be more remakes and more discussions in store for us. I did not expect Farhan to copy Don, even copying the songs. If he was fascinated by the subject, he could have made something original with a new version of Don. Or even with a chela or son of Don. Don may be dead, but Don’s son will still be there.
May 23, 2011 at 11:05 PM
Golmal not Golamal. and other silly mistakes. Sorry.
May 24, 2011 at 7:28 AM
My head spinned reading about ALL those remakes. This is precisely why I liked movies like rang de basanti (to me it was VERY original movie and VERY desi movie at that). I like all vidhu vinod chopra movies e.g. eklavya where you see a very different bigb supported by superb star cast, excellant story/plot with suspence, good acting and very ethnic/desi stuff. maybe we need more chopras in hindi cinema and more movies like eklavya!
May 24, 2011 at 11:35 AM
agreed, Like you Vinod Chopra being one of my favs from the current crops of dir, However he is getting a little over the top, his older films were much much better, fav being parinda and Kareeb ( i know you mentioned somewhere you didnt like it – I think its the sweetest and honest romantic films of our times. – Just my opinion)
May 24, 2011 at 12:20 PM
Y converse with a “good riddance”?
May 24, 2011 at 12:32 PM
Oh
you took it to the heart? I was just KIDDING, If I do remember correctly, I did apologize if i had went out of line, It was all in good context. Again, My apologies if you still feel otherwise.
May 26, 2011 at 6:11 AM
It is amusing that Don is getting so much prestige value. The real Don sitting in Pakistan must be feeling elated and his heart must be swelling with pride. Even God will never get this type of fame. Kalyug baba Kalyug. Criminals are deified by bollywood and media. Glamourisation of crime. Future generations will have one more option of making their parents proud by becoming Dons. Who would not like to have that exotic and dangerous lifestyle? But one has to start from scratch. Icing on the cake is that most of our politicians are turning out to be white collared Dons or part time ones. Be proud to be a Don. The three letter word itself is cute, compact and fearsome. Girls will be dreaming that an attractive man wearing dark expensive glasses flying in an expensive private jet land in front of them and carry them away to exotic locales to be partner in high class crimes. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge style.
May 23, 2011 at 2:46 PM
I would also like to know how SRK and his fans would feel when some younger star decides to remake his DDLJ’s and KKHH’s a few years down the line! i’m sure they won’t e too thrilled!
May 23, 2011 at 8:04 PM
Good to see so much “hugging around” between two guys. Good one for dostana3….
May 23, 2011 at 8:35 PM
May 24, 2011 at 2:25 AM
LOL alex
May 24, 2011 at 2:25 AM
Lol! Nothing of that sort!
May 24, 2011 at 3:31 AM
Lol, Alex if you were referring to me also just to let you know I’m not a guy
May 24, 2011 at 3:42 AM
Seems most are ladies here. Dimps will be happy.
May 24, 2011 at 7:06 AM
Not dimps…alex will be happy….happily dreaming about us
no wonder he wants to know everyone’s gender…lolz.
May 24, 2011 at 7:16 AM
haha. Krishna and Gopikas.
May 24, 2011 at 7:32 AM
On a side note: each gopika has her own krishna (during the raas lila) signifying that each atma has its paramatma…we don’t need to SHARE!!! Awesome concept naa. I love all things “hindu”. Still amazes me to no end the concepts that were introduced in this “religion” by thinkers where debates were ENCOURAGED and expected! The whole Bhagwad Gita I find VERY revolutionary.
May 24, 2011 at 7:37 AM
Even Mahabharata. Draupadi having 5 husbands and Kunti giving birth to sons of different fathers. Just imagine this scenario in present times.
May 24, 2011 at 7:47 AM
Yep…they covered it ALL…from in-vitro fertilization, multiple husbands, gender bending drag queen (arjun), outside the womb fertilization of eggs, aeroplanes….on and on. In fact it is claimed that every discovery ever to be made (in future) is already covered in MB e.g. cloning.
Or there is nothing that is not already there in MB. Interesting no!
May 24, 2011 at 7:51 AM
This is called scientific interpretation of the great epic. Well done, dimps.
May 24, 2011 at 8:07 AM
you seem to be lot in spiritual world…
have u ever heard of book called “i am that”
May 24, 2011 at 7:33 AM
“Krishna and Gopikas”— hahaha
Lol@Vatikala
Let me “pick and choose” now–lol
Just kidding…
May 24, 2011 at 7:48 AM
made your day no…now you can have (w) dreams…hahahha. Since you haven’t seen the faces, you will imagine bollywood or tollywood actresses….hahahahahha!
May 24, 2011 at 8:28 AM
@IAMTHAT:
Yes. Movies, reading, vermicomposting/gardening, kids, Shrimad Bhagwad Gita (not in that order) interest me a lot among other things
Very interesting info on the book.
My relative wrote a book “I am that”….what is the author of your book? I like “autobiography of a yogi” a lot. Unfortunately the “organisation” hijacked this great yogi (and his works) in a very nasty/commercial way. Sad but expected.
May 24, 2011 at 8:34 AM
its basically conversations of Nisargadatta transcribed and edited by Maurice Frydman
May 24, 2011 at 8:41 AM
Yes…yes…googled it. I am BIG fan of advaitha philosophy…aham brahmasmi…named my child on it
I LOVE Swami Vivekananda, Adi Shankara (for me he was Lord Shiva himself in this universe)…these great giants in the world of spirituality/humanity. I LOVE P.P Pandurang Shastriji as well (it is advaitha INTO action for mordern times), H.H.Chinmayananda, DLS Swami Shivananda…just awesome guides Bhagwan sent for us. TO me advaitha boils down to: your pain is my pain. your happiness is mine. In your hurts/pains/dukh, I too am hurt. That there is no difference bet. you and I. In that you and I merge. I think ultimate compassion would flow from a human being who would imbibe such a philosophy (no?). That is why the hugging saint (maa Amritanandji) has so much “power”. She wants to (literally) take your pain away and GIVE, GIVE, GIVE. In doing so, THEY merge with the supreme and become completely divine. Otherwise WHY on earth people will want a hug, cry afterwards and get so moved. It is divine hug itself. So much to ponder. So much to imbibe. So much to progress.
May 24, 2011 at 8:58 AM
Go Read that book and Im sure you wont touch anyother book after that.. Its bit abstarct but WONDERFUL WONDERFUL book…
I love Budhha, Kabir, RamaKrishna Trinity and Raman Maharishi and This book…
May 24, 2011 at 9:10 AM
Spiritually speaking I already have found “it” and happy with it. But will definately read this book as I have heard about this book (and swamiji) in the satsangs I go to. Whenever someone wants to “convert” me (read jevohah’s witness on the door steps), I tell them “what is conversion for already converted”. I already am sold on vendanta/advaitha philosophy…I think its WTG.
Now let me go order this book.
May 24, 2011 at 9:43 AM
Dimps…
The best thing abt book is you are not going to find any names of God or this fellow said this or that or this book or that book…He just passsed away 3 decades back and was living in Red light area of mumbai being a tabacco seller… completely illiterate and WHAT HE SAYS BELWS ONE”S MIND… Often quoted by most Scientists in west.. little info
May 24, 2011 at 8:35 AM
I didnt find Autobiography of Yogi is Spiritually elevating, its more in miracle domain and that wat west loves and so forth…
May 24, 2011 at 9:15 AM
Beauty is in the eye of beholder. For a faithful one like me…I totally enjoyed/understood the book and loved it. He even explains (in bits) christianity from a hindu standpoint. He interpreted mystycism (sp?) of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat….I think he is one awesome dude! One of my other “guru” even interpreted Shakespeare and used to hold debate or discussion on some works of literature. From my standpoint, adds to awesomeness of the “guru”!
May 24, 2011 at 9:31 AM
I know its personal so no more from my side… But I still feel they all went west only when ground was prepared by Gr8 Swami Vivekanda.. He is MY HERO. Have u read Raman Maharishi?? or know abt him
May 24, 2011 at 9:54 AM
Yep. LOVE both of them. Nice meeting a fellow advaitha lover or a devotee.
May 25, 2011 at 7:20 AM
10 commandment to be a true BACHCHAN fan.
1- Hail Amitabh. He is the best and biggest star ever graced cinema either BW or HW. Al pachino comes second. (Big B even gave pachino a SCARE on his FACE by blowing a knockout punch called AGNIPATH)
2- Abhishek is the pest star/actor of this generation. Aamir is distant second. (Though some fools say Abhishek hasn’t gave any solo superhit)
3- Aishwarya is the best. Better then madhuri. In Grace Ash>Madhubala. In Acting only Jaya Ji > Ash.(Thuough some jealous call her Miss Ice, Miss Plastic Face and Miss Giggle queen.)
4- Expect RGV ki Aag every bachchan movie a a masterpiece and multi layered but indian audience fail to understand that.
5- The whole world conspire againest Bachchans. Always Try to pull them down. They even include a hit, like DMD, in flop list.
6- Amitabh Dominated the bollywood for 2 decade(1970-1990)
7- SRK is a pygmy infront of Big B.
8- There is no place for SRK in BW history. SRK=Rajendra Kumar. Even in last 2 decade History of BW remember SRK as Footnote. Salman and Aamir are miles ahead of SRK.
9- Amitabh in AGNIPATH and BLACK is the pinnacle of acting and SRK in MNIK is hemfest.
10- Every thing that is bad in BW has been originated from a palace called MANNAT where a self appointed KING lives.
May 25, 2011 at 7:20 AM
I am a true bachchan fen and i whole heartidly agree with all 10 commandment quote above and i want to add something on point no 8.
“There is no place for SRK in BW history. SRK=Rajendra Kumar” SRK also know that. That is why
1- He Bought Bennett-Coleman & co. that’s why TOI is publishing positive stories of SRK since 20 years. And also Filmunfair magzine gave him 8 Best actor trophy.
2- He also bought all india’s ecectronic and print media that is why he gets away even after commiting so many mistakes.
3- TIME and NEWSWEEK also bought by SRK. That is why sometime They include SRK in the 50 most influentel person of the world.
4- He Sponsered Nasreen munni kabir and Anupama chopra to write a book on him and make documentries.
5- He sponsered Travel and living channal to make a TV series on him called LIVING WITH A SUPERSTAR .
6- He even tried to bribe Madam tussad musim managment but they didn’t fell trap in his web. That is why here SRK came after Amitabh and Aishwarya Bachchan. Hail Bachchans.
“Salman and Aamir are miles ahead of SRK”
Completly agree. After all SRK hasn’t cross 100 cr yet and Aamir crossed it twice and salman once.
This is pricise reason why i think Sehwag is better test player then Tendulkar. Tendulkar hasn’t cross 250 in test but sehwag crossed 250 barriar many times. He even crossed 300 two time. Damn the fact that sachin is consistently perfmorming since 2 decade. Sehwag crossed 300 in test 2 time so sehwag is better test player then tendulkar. That is why i say salman and aamir are ahead of SRK. Damn the fact that SRK was and is always remain in top 3 in past 2 decade. But we live in present and It is not every day you cross 100 and 200 cr.
May 25, 2011 at 8:19 AM
LOL.
Time for you to take your Lithium and crawl back into your hole.
May 25, 2011 at 8:50 AM
While I can understand your anguish, you have to give it to SRK for starting this oneupmanship game in the first place. And media is more to blame in this respect. They made him, king, badshah etc. The media needs someone from movie industry and cricket world to latch on. Now we are having news channels which are wearing so many hats. The truth is Big B and SRK are good friends and Abhishek and SRK bond very well. While the biggies benefit from all sorts of publicity, positive or negative, we common people are trying to win arguments.We must become less passionate and more reasonable.
May 25, 2011 at 9:03 AM
“We must become less passionate and more reasonable”
Totally agree (AGAIN) with ya on this one. I find it completely foolish on part of fans to indulge in all this “time waste” activity. If you read the book of Anupama Chopra on SRK (A ROYALLY BADLY WRITTEN BOOK…Even I can do better book than that), then SRK totally looked up to bigb all his life. But I did find him “cocky” on KWK show where he interviewed bigb. However his usp is “attitude” and one doesn’t need to be “humble” or “spineless”. Its OK to have attitude in life. It is poor guys defence mechanism because he is an orphan and all that.
Maybe the people who were at top don’t like coming down and seeing others on top.
Who knows. Who cares.
Only movies. Only movies count not the personal S..T.
May 25, 2011 at 9:17 AM
leg pulling is okay but not viciousness.
I dont know why these journalists waste their time on Coffee Table Books Which are nothing but pr works. Now how can we expect impartial reviews from Chopra? As it is every review has some personal agenda and that is why better to take these reviews with a pinch of salt. When the films they bash become hits and when the films they praise become flops, these critics realise the power of the actual movie going public. They cannot influence the public all the way.
May 25, 2011 at 12:07 PM
“leg pulling is okay but not viciousness.”
I hope that was not for me…I don’t think I am vicious.
May 25, 2011 at 1:10 PM
no, Dimps. That adjective is not for you. It is for fanatics.
May 25, 2011 at 8:46 AM
LOL.
Time for you to take your Lithium and crawl back into your hole.
I know you will come first. Thank you because u didn’t said anything about my english. Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha..
Kabhi-Kabhi thoda fun bhi hona chahiye. You can say anything to me i don’t mind because you know ki “***** chalte rehte hain and ***** ****** rehte hain.
May 25, 2011 at 9:50 AM
@dimps &vatikala
See I am also a fan of amitabh bachchan. I know what he had done between 1975-1985. He was unmatched at that period and it is impossible for anyone to five so many Hits, superhits, BB an ATBB.But i am aganist this star worship be it sachin or amitabh. No one can deny there place in history and what they did in thier respective field. My only issue is BW main Big B ke alawa doosre log bhi the, hai or rehange. At the same Team india main sachin ke alawa doosre bhi hain. I mean if i say that Anil kumble and sehwad won more test for india then don’t treat this as blasphemy. Big B bade actor hain. Sachin bada player hai. But to prove thier greatness don’t dwarf others. if someone wants respect to his/her fav star he/she should respect to other star also. waise bhi Big B bade ho ya SRK hamian kya fark padta hai ? Hamin ye kuch dene wale to hain nahi inka PR karne ki liye.
May 25, 2011 at 11:45 AM
Well there’s no problem as long as there is no basic denial of the facts. When you see people making silly claims about SRK do you call them out? I think not! And it makes a very big difference to any argument when the ‘facts’ become questionable.
But also (and I address your Kumble/Sehwag claim here without getting into the specifics) I have always been very fond of this ancient Greek insight where the word ‘pseudos’ (false) did not just refer to the ‘lie’ but also a ‘truth’ that was used deceptively. In other words if ‘facts’ can be used selectively or misleadingly to generate all kinds of conclusions. Which is why contexts matter. So for example you just mentioned Bachchan was at the top between ’75-’85. This is quite inaccurate. Bachchan’s rise began with Zanjeer and continued through ’74 and was finally cemented in ’75. But till he left for politics in ’86 he was completely unchallenged. However even when he returned in ’88 and had a number of disappointing results by his lofty standards he was still by far getting the biggest initials around and all the way upto 1992. These are the ‘facts’. However when we contextualize these we discover that the decline has really begun in this four year period. Compare this with SRK for example where actually over the past ten years he has not necessarily had the biggest initials or the biggest grossers (so for example whenever Hrithik got together with his father he generally had the biggest grosser, then we had Aamir grossing the most doing ‘different’ or of course over the last 2-3 years it’s a different ballgame altogether.. for some years now SRK has been far even on the initials..).
So two moves emerge here. First the effort to keep Bachchan’s reign to a minimum. Or to use arguments like ‘what does it matter?’. Well if it doesn’t to you why do you even bother to argue?! But also within those period very different standards are used to compare stars. No contextualizing is done. So on and so forth. Here of course I dispute even the ‘facts’ but even if I didn’t I would find a certain usage questionable.
Similarly with Sachin. We can have all sorts of debates. The question however is: why is the debate always framed in a certain way that ‘denies’ Sachin something. I’ve had this argument with others too. One can keep selecting a set of ‘facts’ that deconstruct him while never selecting those that illustrate his ‘difference’. Or one can pay lip service to his ‘greatness’ while constantly undercutting it in specific debates. Leaving aside the whole question of ‘how’ a player’s contribution to a team sport is judged which is by no means obvious to me.
Again I just point to these two examples because these often come up. And I could expand on all of these. But there has to be an ethics of discussion. If one is going to keep questioning Shakespeare the other side will be obliged to illustrate his uniqueness. You can’t then say that the Shakespeare-supporters are being ‘bullies’ trying to silence everyone else. As long as one recognizes Bachchan’s ‘event’ there’s no issue. But if one wants to overreach and pretend stars today are doing as well or better well this kind of propaganda will then have to be ‘checked’. So don’t pull that ‘hey what does it matter?’ card here after clearly proving that a lot matters to you and you too have a specific agenda. To say that there are others on the team other than Sachin is frankly a preposterously absurd claim in its obviousness. Who denied this?! Whoever said the team doesn’t count? But how come this ‘team equation’ doesn’t come into the debate when Sacin is judged to be a match-winning player or not? Why does one not consider that for most of his peak period he played on a poor Indian team that wasn’t going to beat any strong opposition most days? Here why doesn’t anyone say ‘its not only him, it’s also the team’?! So note how this works — when others have to be given credit suddenly it’s about the team, when it’s Sachin then it’s never about the team in the same way! Again another example of how facts can be used selectively or the very same logic used in subtly different ways to produce opposite results. It’s like those who suddenly see multistarrers when Abhishek is in them but who conveniently ignored all of the same when SRK was in them. Or those who think Bachchan is a massive star when he works with Abhishek but not so when he works with SRK!
Again these are all examples even if admittedly privileged ones. But these illustrate the bait and switch that often goes on.
May 25, 2011 at 12:12 PM
I love the bachchan phenomenon but not just because he is a movie star and actor par excellance. It is other things that he has that makes him so “rich”. In that dept. NO ONE can beat him. Success comes and goes. Money comes and goes. You may be the earth’s best actor and never get kudos or mass adulation. The other aspects of bachchan (Bigb here) makes him stalwart, head and shoulders above the rest (for me) and personally I believe it is those aspects of him that added so much to his performance….having gone thro’ poverty in life (which he describes so often in his blog) he could play a coolie with conviction…he could bring that angst….others to play such part, spend time on station as coolie …to get into the skin of the character…but Bigb probably already knew and understood. He is like that old wine that gets better with age. I sometime feel sad that indian cinema is not enough to exploit his talents!
May 25, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Re: Thank you because u didn’t said anything about my english.
Need I say anything? LOL.
Re: We must become less passionate
Sorry, I know no other way!
On a serious note, I dont take pleasure in trashing people but I do feel obliged to slap around trolls who come here to comment with agendas. If someone wishes to make substantial contribution ( SERIOUS OR OTHER WISE ), feel free to comment. When one sees this kind of behaviour, I think it ought not to be tolerated.
May 25, 2011 at 11:45 AM
@
“who come here to comment with agendas” Commondments no 5
But again thank you for not repeating that age old saying. Twist in*****. Just kidding.
I still can also say many thing. But that is it from my side. peace.
May 25, 2011 at 12:16 PM
There is a difference between personal preference and an agenda. This is again something that people either do not see or pretend not to see. If I like Laxman more than Sachin that’s fine as long as I don’t start asserting that he’s greater than Sachin. The latter is not a debatable point. One could of course say one preferred Laxman stylistically or certain strokes of his or what have you. But the overall judgment that he is greater than Sachin would be absurd. What if however I am such a Laxman fan that I actually have a problem precisely with that basic fact? That sachin is greater? Here I then start manipulating the ‘facts’ to arrive at either different conclusions or else to always ‘change the subject’. So I could say ‘yes yes Sachin’s the greatest… BUT I really love Laxman’s wristy touch, I really admire how destructive Sehwag can be.. ‘so on and so forth. This is how things can be manipulated.
With Abhishek I have never really forced anyone to accept my views on him as an actor or as star (potential or otherwise). Of course I have accounted for the ‘facts’ over the years for those who have eyes to read (!) but ultimately that is my opinion. Whether I write essays on this or whatever should not bother anyone. But all the objections not to mention the violence with which these views have been greeted suggest precisely the opposite. Much like those partisans who say that Abhishek is completely finished with every failure (of course what’s there to ‘finish’ here when according to the same folks he’s no one to begin with?!) only to return with greater energy when there’s a new release!
The whole idea that I am somehow just being pro-Bachchan(s) all the time is for those who say this either a delusion or a lie. Probably the latter. Why? Because those who’ve seen enough of me over the years ought to have seen how often I have disagreed with Bachchan on his own blog or how often I have even argued against some ‘classics’ of his. So evidently I am encouraging some sort of cult here but doing exactly the opposite on his blog. This does not even make elementary sense. What happens is that people come up with absurd claims to support their favorite stars and when I argue against them I am dubbed the ‘fanatic’! In other words if you actually argue responsibly you’re the extremist. If you just throw around ridiculous claims that betray your lack of understanding of the basic facts or at least your partisanship (probably both) you’re ok! It’s like the whole box office deal where people just throw out numbers without any explanation and any specifics and have a ‘take it or leave it’ approach. If you then pick apart those numbers systematically you supposedly have an agenda! These are not good faith arguments but about ‘name-calling’.
May 25, 2011 at 12:59 PM
This is why i like to interact with you. You never lost your cool. Now i am giving some facts why i said amitabh’s dominence yer was 1975-1985. I am cut and pasting someones comment. but these are facts.
Dominant Actors***
Early 70?s 1. Rajesh Khanna & Dharmendra 2. Manoj Kumar
1975 – 1982 1. Amitabh Bachchan 2. Dharmendra & Vinod Khanna
The reason why Big B overtook Rajesh Khanna was not only BIg B rise but Rajesh Khanna downfall too.
1982- 1. Dharmendra , 2. Jeetendra & Mithun Chakraborthy
1982-85 – 1. Dharmendra & Jeetendra , 2. Amitabh & Mithun
This time new younsters like Jacky Shroff, Sanjay Dutt & Sunny Deol were rising withtheir successful movies.
1985-1988 – 1. Mithun Chakraborthy & Dharmendra
Now all Dharmendra,Jeetendra Big B & Mithun were overtaken by Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor ,Sanjay Dutt & Jacky Shroff.
1988-1992 belongs to Deol,Dutt,Kapoor & Shroff. But during this time two other actors made a huge debut and created a lot of popularity those were Aamir Khan & Salman Khan.
90-92 – Aamir Khan,Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor
Amitabh was only star who was giving atleast one hit during this time.
1992-1993 – 1. Shahrukh Khan,Govinda then Aamir & Salman…. Shahrukh Khan created huge popularity and gained numero uno in terms of popularity while AT BO both govinda & Srk were no.1 .
Now after 1992 – Amitabh downfall started and it remained till 2000.
1994 – Now star who made debut in 1991 being popular since time of 1992 made a great comeback in 1994 after bad 1993. Gained huge popularity & became no.1 alongwith salman. He was Akshay Kumar.
Akshay became numero uno by overtaking all other actors till june 1995.
1995-2000 – 1. SRK 2. Salman & Govinda… where Akshay Kumar & Sanjay Dutt lagged behind
2000 – A new superstar arrived . Hritik has overtaken all Srk,Aamir,Salman Akshay in popularity
2000-2002 -Popularity wise Hritik no.1 …. all other at no.2 . Where 2001 belonged to Sunny Deol interms of BO.
2002-2004 – Shahrukh KHan KING STATUS & KINGDOM , Hritik at no.2 followed by Akshay & Aamir.
2005 – Akshay overtook Srk . Where as in 2006 Hritik & Aamir got huge Success.
2005-2008 – 1. Akshay 2. Aamir then Hritik & Srk.
Ghajini till now …. Aamir became No.1 followed by Ajay,Salman & Ranbir Where as Overseas Srk has srong hold.
2008 ownwards – 1. Aamir Khan 2. Ajay Devgan & Salman Khan follwed by Ranbir Kapoor where in 2010 Ajay Devgan became no.1 along with Salman Khan.
May 26, 2011 at 8:34 AM
This is the only Olympics where all winners were and have been from India!
Very definitive guide.
May 26, 2011 at 10:12 AM
One correction ….. Amitabh was number 1 from 1975 to 1992 …. There was no one near to him in this period .. From 1975-1986 .. He had only three real flops (Alaap, Jurmana and Faraar) … and from 1987-1992 .. His flops did more business than many superhits … Even Ganga Jamuna Saraswati and Toofan did 1.25 Crore per territory business which was more than super hits of contemporaries … Heck even in 1994 .. Insaniyat managed to open 100% in first week and SRK’s Anjaam in that year was opened to 78% after hiatus success of Darr and Bazigarr .. this was magic of amitabh ..
Only 3 real flops from 61 movies in 13 years .. No one can achieve this in one lifetime .. leave about 13 years ..
May 26, 2011 at 10:15 AM
agreed here.. this is the point I made yesterday.. he was still getting the biggest initials by far through 1992.
May 26, 2011 at 11:06 AM
Actually, and this can be corroborated, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan had a bigger first week than KKHH. Both released on the same day and Bachchan won, in spite of Mrityudaata, Lal Baadshah and other such turkeys.
May 26, 2011 at 11:08 AM
yes that’s quite right. And in fact even as late as 1997 Yash Chopra didn’t want to release DTPH the same day as Lal Baadshah. The latter did much better than Mrityudaata incidentally in the sense that it was ok in some parts of the North.
May 26, 2011 at 10:15 AM
Better picture of Amitabh bachchan is recorded here .. http://www.screenindia.com/old/april25/cover4.htm
May 26, 2011 at 10:36 AM
and this was the thing about bachchan. His flops would quite literally be superhits for any other star. And even as his hit to flop ratio is stunning even more remarkable is the fact that you only have about half a dozen films or so for almost a 20 year period that actually lost money! And this is something that is hard to understand for many today. The numbers and the records still cannot give one an adequate sense of how things were when it was the age of Bachchan. It wasn’t about a dominant star or even the most dominant star. It was an event that transcended even the numbers. The only other such moment in Hindi cinema was for the few years that Rajesh Khanna was on top. And hence lists that suggest Bachchan was # 1, someone else (whoever!) was # 2 and so on are so completely beside the point. Because Bachchan was an industry unto himself. He really didn’t have competition at all. There was Bachchan and then there was a list of others. Even major stars like Dharmendra looked very diminished in the age of Bachchan. The anti-Bachchan media even in those days would regularly nominate other stars and so forth but there was never a contest. His box office track record for those 20 years or so is still the most remarkable such story in any film industry that at least I am aware of. and here you had not only a megastar but also a great actor.
The other phenomenon that strikes me as being very singular for different reasons is that of the two Ms (Mohanlal and Mammootty) in Malayalam cinema. Here you have two stars who’ve dominated their industry more or less for a quarter of a century and who for a long part of that period were the industry appearing in a very high number of films every single and who today despite age catching up (and/or bad decisions in the case of Mohanlal) and some degree of competition (stars who are big but who don’t quite have their staying power.. Dileep earlier, Prithvi now..) are nonetheless irreplaceable even today and not just this but they continue to set some of the box office benchmarks with the right films. and it’s not like Rajnikant where you have a film every couple of years that is designed as the biggest event around. These stars still do multiple films and often in very varied subjects and still maintain their draw.
May 26, 2011 at 1:47 PM
Very True .. Boxoffice Domination + Classics Movies for over 20 years .. this feat is hard to achieve for anybody .. Amitabh has given 61 Hits between 1973-1986 .. This is more than SRK + Aamir + Salman + Saif Ali Khan + Akshay combined Hits for over 20 years … This was power of bachchan .. He was not one man industry for nothing ..
Satyam .. Can you post above link as separate post here ??
May 26, 2011 at 1:52 PM
there is already a similar post here:
http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/amitabh-bachchan-the-one-man-industry/
May 25, 2011 at 1:11 PM
I have no problem if someone like anyone. I have my own choices. I am not a bachchan hater. It is just when people don’t see beyond theie fav star it gets into my nerve. Again if you want to know what bachchan haters think about him. take a look at it. height of hate.
1) BigB is an old and worn out actor who has fizzed out 20 yrs ago.
2) He has bankrupt many producers.
3) His son has bankrupt ALL the producers with whom he has worked with.
4) The collective reduction of BW wealth by Bachchan family is MUCH MORE than their collective addition.
5) At present he is nothing but a skeleton of his former self. He is doing movies after movies only to save some money for his good for nothing (Nakara) son, nothing else.
May 25, 2011 at 9:46 PM
DJ, I am not sure what you are trying to prove.
Amir Khan gets 300 cr+ BO
OR
SRK has great BO since 90′s.
Irrespective of the above, two people are very popular in the whole India from villages to metros, Sachin and Amitabh. Their popularity was unmatchable even with so called big BO success.
Particularly, Amir is almost unknown in villages. SRK to some extent exist because of lady audience.
you may never see another Amitabh mania. Why are you bringing Abhishek in to this/ Leave him alone!
May 26, 2011 at 8:32 AM
“Poot sapoot to kyon dhan sanchay
Poot kapoot to kyon dhan sanchay”!
May 25, 2011 at 7:05 PM
DJ–U r “on fire” man…..lol
hahaha
May 25, 2011 at 7:13 PM
“blast from the past”
May 25, 2011 at 9:01 PM
Nice posting Alex…no news on ajitabh..wasn’t he supposed to write a book and bigb was quite unhappy about it. I never read anything about ajitabh in any of bigb’s blogs either…maybe he doesn’t want to share…
May 26, 2011 at 1:59 AM
Stop comparing media hyped starts to Real SuperStars like Amitabh. Let us not argue on that part (Amitabh was the last superstar of bollywood).. now everything is marketing. promote your proudct for one year, spending more than a prod cost of the movie!! are today’s real superstarts… ask any so called Super Star to BAN the media (hype) for a decade / forget atleast for an year. they will come to the real meaning of DON…. Mark my words , even Abhishek OR IMran OR RAnbir give two or three consecutive super hits… their next product will be marketed in a way like all previous BO records will collapse but that will never ever make them AB!! to be very honest, the only bollywood star who is close to the super Star word is Salman (thanks, atleast he has some genuine super star attitude)
May 26, 2011 at 12:16 PM
Agreed, Also at the time when AB was a superstar, he was banned from all magazines and newspapers, So he made it and stayed at the top without any help or PR from the media. He was and is the true superstar made by people. Famous line from Rangeela “Apun public hai public, Jiske picture mein apna paisa vasool nahian, uska dabba gul”. And the public has spoken and how for AB without any media help. He was never a self proclaimed superstart, Unlike SRK. For gods sake the guy is so pathetic that he was talking crap about a 11 yr old boy (Darsheel) when he was nominaated for Best Actor against him in TZP. Do we need to say more, how self proclaimed this guy really is? with his 20 chamchas around?
May 26, 2011 at 11:20 AM
The trailer is better than what the images suggested.
Amitabh’s lookis fantastic! Hope it works
May 26, 2011 at 11:41 AM
Shivakumar agree on the Salman part in your comment.
Big B was and is unmatched phenomena of Indian screen but he is past his prime and cannot evoke much response among moviegoers so its time to move on and accept changing times and realities.
May 26, 2011 at 12:24 PM
I can only repeat what I said the other day:
“the seated elephant is nonetheless taller than the standing horse! forget mules and half-breeds!”
or this from Julius Caesar:
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
May 26, 2011 at 12:05 PM
Amitabh bachchan has gracefully accepted that his prime has gone past Msdhoni that is the reason why he is being reasonable in making the movie withing there budget of 10-12 cr so that at least it wont be loss to everyone associated with the movie.. but the people or media who hate him make news like this only to show that he is big even now and his movie are failing!!! all this propaganda off haters and media..
May 26, 2011 at 12:11 PM
Bhtb already in profit. Satellite rights sold for 13.5 cr.
http://m.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-daily-celeb-tweet-diary/20110526.htm
May 26, 2011 at 12:27 PM
The sensible outlook in making of films today .. controlled budgets !! ..’Bbuddah -Hoga tera Baap’ complete in 10.5 cr . BHTB film in profit before release due to cost control .. Satellite sold for 13.5 cr .. cost covered before release !! Well done Puri,’ he tweeted.
Of course not that the trade will notice! Paa was a straight hit/superhit in trade terms but they pretended otherwise. The media called it a hit right away. The trade never went along.
May 26, 2011 at 1:30 PM
See the links posted on Amitabh—
I think I’ve had enuf….
Want the clean shaven Amitabh back …
The “goatee” is past its expiry date.
Also want him to get rid of his dodgy glasses- go for contact lenses or refractive surgery…
His eyes are a major component of his appeal and connect– still!!
And that anti mongoloid slant of eyes….
May 27, 2011 at 12:50 AM
yep. Old is gold. you cannot market that old magic in an old body. In fact this would be perfect opportunity to introduce junior b. Story line should be something like bigb’s character dies and junior comes to take revenge (godfather types)…and it should be superbly made…it will be a hit! Then bigb can keep on coming in multiple flashbacks…you know.
May 26, 2011 at 4:51 PM
Really funny clip of AB in london promoting vog..
May 27, 2011 at 1:01 AM
Y he speak bad english? Should actors get into voging atall?
June 8, 2011 at 2:12 AM
Hahaha…Loved this one…
May 26, 2011 at 10:16 PM
Added romantic song to the movie:
http://www.chakpak.com/news/amitabh-bachchan-adds-extra-romantic-elements-to-bbuddah-hoga-tera-baap/2446
May 26, 2011 at 11:17 PM
Satyam, I read all your suggestions to promote Buddah…
The biggest advertisement is the star himself. It is silly to expect him to do utterly gimmicky things like wearing various get ups.
Actually he should invite some 100 people, not necessarily his fans for a preview and ask their suggestions and see their reactions. And he should introduce some youth element to attract the young crowd as well. Instead of dancing with half naked nameless goris ala Karan Johar style, he could have a dance number either with Katrina or Priyanka.
May 26, 2011 at 11:56 PM
And the biggest drawback seems to be old wine in new bottle feeling.
May 27, 2011 at 12:48 AM
yep…personally I feel, if movie has already recovered costs and is now in profit margin (BEFORE release mindyou) then Y worry about numbers (number 1, 2 etc). I mean, I wouldn’t waste money on advertisements….movie toh aisey hi chalegi. Standard stuff…like…ads should be done. Satyam’s ideas (some of them) seems bit far-fetched dreams of a crazy fan…LOL…I am guilty of it too…so I can understand!
May 27, 2011 at 12:51 AM
It’s not far-fetched actually.. consider the whole thing Aamir did for 3I showing up in different parts of India with all the clues and so on. The TMK audio launch was on a train. So all kinds of things happen. I am suggesting doing things that would tie in with the theme that they themselves started out with.
May 27, 2011 at 1:02 AM
Apart from Promotional stuff, Quality is key to success. I have put three things to do in bigB blog for last 2-3 days ..
1. Better sound quality.
2. Better graphics.
3. One item song in Amit Kumar voice(he did wonderful job in BMCM).
Satyam, if you put it in bigB blog, he might seek attention ..
May 27, 2011 at 1:04 AM
And why 10 crore stuff ..
Why not he is coming in Good budget mega flick ?? Ask bugB to shave off beard and do masala movie in intense action role(Something like HUM or Khakee) .. success is guaranteed ..
Please put all this concern to Amitabh in his blog, your words will immediate seek attention ..
May 27, 2011 at 1:12 AM
I sometimes wonder if those gimmicks really work. Lets see what he comes up for DB (farting toilets). I think it may “open” the movie with some audience but if movie is not good, woh nahi chalegi. Bigb has a chip on the shoulder…and he SHOULD do publicity but not go crazy on it and spend too much money on it (it takes away from the profit). If people like what they see, they will go see it AGAIN…and if they don’t like it, no matter the publicity, people won’t go see again. 3I had LOT of repeat audience. So had dabaang. It is that that makes a hit into a super-hit…old timer are waiting to go see the movie….so maybe target the younger audience…spend advertising money on them. If almost 70 year old hero movie becomes a hit, then THAT would be in itself quite a record!!!
May 27, 2011 at 1:24 AM
Every time this type of thing may not work. There will be deja vu feeling. Ultimately, the content of the movie matters along with WOM and some critical acclaim. The fate of Mangal Pandey is a good example. Even DB is not inspiring enough because of Imran Khan’s presence.
May 27, 2011 at 1:35 AM
It is always the content that works. The ‘gimmicks’ are just meant to create a bigger initial. On the ‘old wine in a new bottle’ isn’t this precisely what people want in this instance?! As for getting reactions from his fans and so on the film is now complete. The content can’t be changed at this point.
May 27, 2011 at 2:09 AM
RGV ON BHTB
Just saw sme scenes of Bbhuddah nd am fucking super angry wth the fucking angry man fr not doing mre films like this all these fucking years
May 27, 2011 at 1:43 PM
SrBachchan Amitabh Bachchan @
@RGVzoomin Sarkaaaaar ! Minus the F word, if only you had proposed such roles I would have married on the spot …!!
May 27, 2011 at 4:05 AM
The big issue I have with the film is –
- It seems rushed sacrificing quality.
- Too much emphasis on ‘getting our investment back’! AB Corp and Amitabh should be publicising the film not its recovery! I have said it before – beyond a certain ‘number’ audience doesn’t care how big a hit it is. It’s the content…
- AB Corp did ‘Paa’ calling itself a ’boutique production house’ – this is not boutique stuff.
I want to be wrong on all the assumptions above.
May 27, 2011 at 6:59 AM
Can you post it, plz..
dimps, vati n AA were doing juicy talks, more material for them
May 27, 2011 at 9:28 AM
heyyyy…what u talking about. Me and Vati are serious people…no gossip ever. Now if you are talking about Satyam and AA, then that is different matter
May 27, 2011 at 2:01 PM
Seriously serious. But love serious gossip. Juicy will always welcome amidst all the dryness. i feel sorry for Bachchan who has to deal with all the childish plans that will pour till the release of his movie. And he has to thank them, be polite. Dimps, any suggestions from you? Out of the box type?
June 8, 2011 at 3:37 PM
@satyam
>Unfortunately for you as a SRK fan Oldgold I am not so confused about all of this.
Please stop trivialising my opinion by harping on about SRK. I’ve ignored your attempts at trying to gleefully ‘trump’ my opinion by using your anti SRK card, because I’m not going to get defensive here, and go off a tangent with SRK discussion (which is what you’re aiming at).
My point is the remake/copy of Don and that’s it.
I’m debating this just on principles that criticising a copy of the copy is baseless – even if the copy was great.
I think it will not stop here. A 5th Don will be made with another top actor of the next generation.
June 8, 2011 at 4:07 PM
Have nothing to add to what I’ve said on the subject Oldgold..
May 27, 2011 at 9:01 AM
Bachchan records India’s first ‘Acapella’ track for Bbuddah
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, May 27, 2011 – 14:35 IST
The superstar creates a new record by singing the title track of his forthcoming film Bbuddah – Hoga Terra Baap in ‘Acapella’ style – a first ever in India!
For those who are new to the concept, Acapella music is a solo or a group vocal or singing without any instrumental sound. Interestingly, music directors Vishal – Shekhar had been planning to do something unique with Mr. Bachchan since quite sometime and they came up with the idea of using the acapella style to create a memorable number for Bbuddah. When the duo approached Mr Bachchan with this suggestion, they were in for a pleasant surprise when the actor immediately agreed to do it!
Music director, Shekhar Ravjiani, elaborated, “We wanted to try something new with this song. We did the basic setup and then Mr. Bachchan replaced every track with his voice. He recreated the sounds of approximately 10 to 12 instruments, from drum to bass to the snare to the chorus. In a nut shell, he did everything required to make a song!”
A source from the film says, “Given Mr. Bachchan’s multi-talented persona, it is no surprise that he took this challenge up very sportingly and was very excited about doing something new. He gave his best and the result is for everyone to see. Every sound you hear in the title track is created by Mr. Bachchan himself! This is the first time that the ‘Acapella’ style of singing has been used in Indian cinema and we owe it to Mr. Bachchan for introducing us to something so unique!”
Produced by Viacom18 & AB Corp, Bbuddah – Hoga Terra Baap is written & directed by Puri Jagannadh and also stars Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon, Sonu Sood, Sonal Chauhan, Southern actress Charmi & Prakash Raj.
The film releases on July 1.
May 27, 2011 at 9:19 AM
Watch his style!
Scarves, jazzy shirts, designer denims, branded glares and two watches. Yes, two watches it is for the uber cool Amitabh Bachchan in Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap, produced by AB Corp and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures. As the title of the film suggests, attitude is all and so Bachchan Sr. is putting his personal touch to his character.
Known for his fondness for wrist watches, Bachchan turned up on the set on the first day of the Bbuddah shoot wearing two watches.
Director Puri Jagannadh loved Bachchan’s wackiness and immediately suggested that his main man wear two watches throughout the movie, which would go with his flamboyant and stylish character. Needless to say, Bachchan was more than happy to mix his personal style with his on-screen persona.
Bbuddah will see him return as the angry old man with a quirky sense of style. But for that, you’ll have to wait till July 1.
May 27, 2011 at 10:06 AM
Its Friday .. no new promo or song promo ?
May 27, 2011 at 12:36 PM
No new stuff .. ?????
I was expecting some spectacular to release today ..
May 27, 2011 at 1:19 PM
@ Satyam, I am adding a strategy for promotion of BBuddah, If you can please get it across to AB Corp, I know you have a better reach to then then any of us, AB does recognize your name and Im sure he reads your post. And, I personally think this is helleva an idea to be ignored. So if you can please do the honors for me, I would greatly appreciated.
To promote Buddah for the Single screen audience and the front benchers, I would suggest that they show AB srs old movies like, Amar Akbar Anthony, Namak Halal, Sholay, Deewar etc on the Streets of Mumbai and other towns (Like they did in old days, I have seen many like that). Target, South Mumbai and some suburbs, This will defintely fetch a decent amount of audience (I think) Also, add buddah promos in the beginning and maybe a long preview of the movie. Also, it works in a way they are promoting like bring Old angry man back just like that, they are showing his old movies on the streets like they did in old days. What you say? ALL bachchan fans and ofcourse to satyam, I think it will be a great idea. See if you all can reach out to him and make this happen. It will be a big plus for promotional activities and hands down beat out any strategy that AK has. What you all think?
May 27, 2011 at 1:23 PM
The thing with the re-releases is that they’re not as important as they once used to be because those films are almost constantly available on TV.
May 27, 2011 at 1:28 PM
No Not talking about re releasing in any thaters, This is really on the streets of bombay, with a projector and a big screen tied to maybe between 2 buildings and or trees, They did this in the 80s during the festive season (Like ganesh utsav/garba/holi etc) so the whole maulah/complex can enjoy the movies for free.
May 27, 2011 at 1:36 PM
I know its easily availableon tv etc..But its an experience to watch it on the streets like old days, it will be something new for the new generation too, that hey we did this back in the days, grows curiosity factor for them as well, also people who were there can reminisce their times, Not sure if you experienced this, But anyone from Mumbai or any other cities experienced this? wanna help me out on what I am trying to say? Maybe I am not coming across correctly.
May 27, 2011 at 1:41 PM
its a dumb-ass idea…
May 27, 2011 at 1:44 PM
Thank You
, Like your honesty, Stay that way. Dont change.
May 27, 2011 at 2:10 PM
Understand your point and ‘sentiment’.
The thing is what’s the ‘source’ of the projector? If it’s film, which can be blown up like – in a drive-in – it can only be possible at nights (that’s why cinema’s dark)…
If the source is ‘digital’ – like a dvd – the ‘blown up’ screen would look pretty pixelated. It doesn’t have the res. of the film.
And, now I hope I’m coming across…
May 27, 2011 at 2:14 PM
no I do understand you completely..
May 27, 2011 at 2:17 PM
Thanks offside, these movies were shown only @ night times lets say anywhere after 9 ish, or after the Aarti /Pujas were done, on lets say the last days of navratri or ganesh utsav they would show it in the middle of the streets at night, and the people would sit on the streets (yes on the streets) and watch it from both side of the screen. and we as kids would be in the middle of the screen to view it from two side, like when bachchan would punch a bad guy with a left on teh other side it would be his right hand. that was the fun part for me as a kid that is. boy those were fun days.
May 27, 2011 at 1:38 PM
“dimps, vati n AA were doing juicy talks”—hahaha
lol @ “juicy”–pun intended…..
May 27, 2011 at 2:20 PM
Well on a serious note, I am shaking my head vigorously…if I am maker of a product and SME on it, it shouldn’t be my responsibility to market it, send it to end users and make sure that the product is well consumed.
How can you be a consummate artiste, improve your acting, keep working on better projects while you also have to do Voice blogging (I can understand twitter and blog writing), doing endorsements…on and on and on. Should making money and more and more and more be the be all and end all goal of life? How can a human being stay grounded admist all this? How can you have semblence of real life and enjoyment of it if in pursuit of happiness, happiness is forgotten and pursuit is all that you remember. In my personal life, I never look at my peers and emulate what THEY are doing or how they are conducting their lives. I don’t care what SRKs and Aamirs of this world is doing…I am bigb and I will not worry about all this marketing-sharketing…my work itself speaks for itself (and this is bigb’s inner most thoughts as well). I mean sure do some effective marketing but don’t worry so much about #1 spot; he already has recovered the cost and already making profits (since it is solidly low budget movie) by sale of the rights of the movie to tv channel (accor. to his tweet)…so why worry? Anyhow these types of thoughts are utopian…maybe not grounded in real world. But if time is running out in life and age is catching up then focus, focus, focus on doing great acting works and leaving legacy that way and not waste it on “lets add a romantic song here”…in doing so, you are not being true to yourself…such are my thoughts. Please don’t kill me for it….
May 27, 2011 at 2:43 PM
This is my reply at BigB blog today :
One can go overboard with publicity if thinks that content is really very good, i mean just like you endorse only those products which you think is good and should be used by consumer, same way you should do only those movies which you think will be excellent and paying public will get their money back .. it should be worth their ticket price .. If one is making movie for personal interest, then there is no need to release movie in theater. Audience started get away from audience when their movies don’t give back their money for sufficient period of time. So please, do only those movies which you think is worth doing .. and paying public will enjoy !!
Now back to publicity, before release, only you can decide if movie is actually worth endorsement or not, if you feel movie is bad enough, don’t let it release at first place.
And if you feel movie is really exciting .. Then you can go overboard with publicity .. because Marketing only motive is to make public aware of movie and details. If publicity content is good enough, it will reach to larger audience automatically .. no need to spread all round.
My advice is : First focus on quality of promos and movie. Sound quality was bad for first look and graphics was bad too for posters. So please ensure of these two things. If you release really entertaining promo in market, it will reach to masses automatically …
May 28, 2011 at 2:01 PM
NO NEW PROMO ?????????????????????????????? …
June 5, 2011 at 1:49 PM
This is a SUPER promo! Even better than the first one! Can’t wait for this!
June 5, 2011 at 5:25 PM
Excellent. I hope it can sustain the intensity thru out. Very ,very good.
June 5, 2011 at 2:02 PM
Absolutely LOVE this promo…the style, the arrogance, the dialogue, that attitude…. BRING IT ON!!!!
June 5, 2011 at 2:07 PM
haha loved the 2nd promo!!
already watched couple of times and feel like coming back again and again watching it
haha..
hum jahan khade ho jaate hain line wahin se shuru hoti hai
June 5, 2011 at 2:19 PM
It is very good, still not happy with the look.
June 5, 2011 at 2:30 PM
look can not be changed now Ted!!!
we need to live with it now..
June 5, 2011 at 3:38 PM
purijagan Pl listen to BHTB title song. Each n every sound in da song , Amithji’s voice. No music instruments including guitar.. Hats off to Amithji
June 5, 2011 at 2:32 PM
that promos looks very very strong.
He is looking very sexy….what a comeback.
looking forward to see this movie.
will it work though?
June 5, 2011 at 2:36 PM
The 2nd promo is bad… horrible costumes… trailer looks like a wannabe instead of cool.
June 5, 2011 at 2:39 PM
gabbar… not at all!!! infact this 2nd promo is stronger than the 1st one!!!
June 5, 2011 at 2:41 PM
And the song is very “thakela”..
June 5, 2011 at 3:51 PM
“infact this 2nd promo is stronger than the 1st one!!!”
yep…bachchans still got it….
June 5, 2011 at 4:56 PM
“yep…bachchans still got it….”
Well–it is a given that Bachchan’s still got it.
IN this film and scenario, though, i feel, it is a bit late in the day maybe, even for Bachchan.
It would have been an ideal film even at the BnB stage, till about 5 years ago.
But here, somehow the age and body language show intermittently.
Bachchan deserves credit for still carrying off this sort of over the top persona at 70!!
Anyhow, i will be more than happy to be surprised if sr bachchan carries it off well.
Also, still not convinced that the producers could not find ANY date to avoid clashing with a major release like DB..
PS2–Still to see an emotional/ pseudosubstance track here, which is crucial needed to give these multiplex folks a “reason” to like this film!! A plain nostalgic spoof will work but not beyond a point….
June 5, 2011 at 10:58 PM
Don’t worry .. Hal-E-Dil is coming next week …
June 6, 2011 at 11:01 AM
” i feel, it is a bit late in the day maybe,”
THe movie is for the fans…just like Rajni’s present movies are for its fans…age doesn’t matter…its not like he (bigb or rajni) have to go win audience…they already have the audience’s love….so the movie rocks. In real life, both bigb/rajni are bald men with poor eyesight (imagine 70 year old people) and onscreen they are still worshipped…so nothing else matters
for us the fans…right?
June 6, 2011 at 11:27 AM
the one crucial difference though is that Rajni’s base is still ‘everyone’ because he’s maintained it or kept feeding it with the image they want and these days of course he does a film once in a while and it’s hyped like an event. Bachchan walked away from his megastar image a longtime back. And though he is in many ways more transcendent than ever and he too has ‘everyone’ as his fan not everyone will show up for his films. Because that link with the ‘history’ has been severed. The question now is that with this kind of ‘throwback’ film how many are interested? Which is why the gross of this film is very hard to predict. I could see a scenario for it doing 25 crores, I could also see one for it doing 50 crores. And it’s not about how good/bad the film is. We just don’t know who’s showing up. And here doing it like a ‘comedy’ essentially is wise because if he had done the ‘angry young man’ too seriously a la Khakee there is definitely a ceiling for that sort of thing today. People just don’t want ‘revolution’.
June 6, 2011 at 12:19 PM
agree with Satyam’s comment. I am not sure of Bbudha’s Box office.
June 5, 2011 at 2:47 PM
You are missing the point. The movie is about an old guy who thinks he is still cool – so yes wannabe. It looks like it will be silly fun movie and hopefully not too regressive.
June 5, 2011 at 2:53 PM
Not at all .. Extremely liked this one . . Great song and promo.
June 6, 2011 at 3:28 AM
its so cliche n lame, get rid of beard n such colorful shirts, they hide Mr Bachchan from us, audience… song is good but wont work..
June 5, 2011 at 3:41 PM
The latest Title song is simply Superbbbbbbbbbb…. specially loved the portions like “Hum jahan pe khade ho jate hain..” and “Zip khula hai tumahara..”…etc..
June 5, 2011 at 3:55 PM
“Hum jahan pe khade ho jate hain”
THAT is my all time fav line! I think this movie will work. Hopefully it is NOT a funny spoof but serious movie where he is still the kewl Don.
June 5, 2011 at 3:47 PM
woooooooow…the title song just kills it!! back off delhi belly..the BAAP is here..!
June 5, 2011 at 3:48 PM
woooooooow…the title song just kills it!! back off delhi belly..the BAAP is here..!
June 5, 2011 at 4:55 PM
Now *this* song is worth a celebration.
ABsr’s voice is just as attractive as ever.
Love the one liner – ‘main jahan….’ LOL!
Hope there are a lot more of this kind in the film.
June 5, 2011 at 8:22 PM
there r many kings in bollywood but there is only one emperor who is undisputed and still rocking at 69..the one and only ORIGINAL DON of bollywood..Big B..THE Baaap of all superstars combined!!
June 5, 2011 at 10:04 PM
Wow!!!
294 comments!!!
This place is rockin’
Congrats to all, especially Sayam!!!
June 6, 2011 at 1:35 PM
“Sam Juliano” reminds me of “Michael Barbosa” hahaha–both interms of name and the frequency of appearance (no offence–just jokin)
Pradeep—the v low “hits” on yotube is indeed somewhat of an indicator–thanx for flagging it up….
June 6, 2011 at 1:45 AM
2nd promo ROCKSSSSSSS. Big B will teach all the stars who is the BAAP of BOLLYWOOD.
June 6, 2011 at 2:25 AM
Abolutely loved this song promo … I have watched countless times now .. but can’t get enough .. A treat for sure .. 1ST JULY … Please come soooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
June 6, 2011 at 9:47 AM
http://www.sawfnews.com/Bollywood/67032.aspx
Lanky, frail and old now, Bachchan looks even more unconvincing beating up bad men. The question is will his fans still lap it up? Especially so since his fans are around his age and hardly watch movies?
Does Bachchan have a large enough fan base amidst the youth who throng multiplexes? The youth which normally watches buff bodies like the Khans or Devgn bashing up bad people?
June 6, 2011 at 10:10 AM
What nonsense? Did Rajni or any of the older action stars have buff bodies? Six-pack bodies are a new trend and one that is getting stale quickly since there is no substitute for good acting.
“Thanks to the action promo of BHTB, which was instantly a huge hit, the film is one of the hottest properties going. As for Imran Khan’s Delhi Belly, the song Bhaag D K Bose and the theatrical trailer are keeping the film in the news. The only hitch is that both films are scheduled to release on the same day, ie, July 1. If Delhi Belly has the upper hand in multiplexes, BHTB will enjoy the upper hand in both multiplexes and singleplexes. All we can say is we hope they don’t split the audience and, consequently, each other’s business.”
June 6, 2011 at 12:20 PM
Hindi audience is different, they keep making Ready type of movies super hits.
June 6, 2011 at 1:26 PM
Let’s keep thing in perspective. How do we know promo of BHTB was instantly a huge hit? It should have been but strangely on YouTube it gives only 418 viewer count-which is very low.
June 6, 2011 at 1:29 PM
The original trailer released on May 20 has 180k views. Then there are many others of the same with 25k or 11k views and so on and some in the hundreds. The new trailer has 450 views but this isn’t the first one that was put up. I referenced that one on my blog but it was taken off after a day or more. So we don’t know how many views it got. Now if you look at some of original Delhi Belly trailers you’ll see views in the 400-500k range. But those have been around way longer than BBuddah. There cannot be a direct comparison anyway. The generation that dominates the internet is also the one that shows up for DB much more than Bbuddah. And generally films with younger actors get more activity. When the Ranjha trailer was released for Raavan it got 200k in a day or two and was one of the highest movers ever for a Hindi film trailer. So one cannot compare Bbuddah directly with these numbers. Nonetheless the first trailer at least did well in this sense. We’ll have to see the numbers on this second one in some days again accounting for the trailer that’s now lost. But otherwise I have said even on Bachchan’s blog that he should get to the widest possible audience with this one in terms of the advertising.
June 6, 2011 at 1:40 PM
Bbuddha’s trailor or first look didn’t create any interest to me. Paa and ChiniKum had
instant appeal.
June 7, 2011 at 1:52 PM
If you have watched GRAN TARINO of clint eastwood ,in that film he does it @ 75 then Amitabh is still in 60s so should be no problem.
The fact is he done in Khakee and ek ajnabee
June 6, 2011 at 2:39 PM
Brilliant second promo. But it’s time to introduce Sonu Sood now. He is hot after Dabangg
June 7, 2011 at 4:27 AM
Satyam good to know that you are realistic about box office chances og BHTB. The july month is too clutterd with films. If it gross 20 cr still a achivment for it.
June 7, 2011 at 8:56 AM
It’s not about being realistic. Funny how people read what they want to in a comment. I said clearly 25 crores wouldn’t surprised me but 50 crores wouldn’t either.
June 7, 2011 at 9:25 AM
Amitabh taking on SRK, Hrithik
Upala KBR, TNN | Jun 7, 2011, 12.00am IST
The teaser trailer of Amitabh Bachchan’s Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap is being talked about across various discussion forums.
What has sparked off the reactions is the actor’s bold dialogue, funky attire and action sequences. The entire campaign so far, has used references from his cult films like Deewar, Agneepath, Hum etc. to recreate his angry young man days…
The latest promo drives the Bachchan bravado up a notch with him openly challenging his younger contemporaries! Opening with the line ‘Tum saale aaj-kal ke bachche log…’, AB seems to be reiterating his position in the industry. Is this line aimed at SRK (who remade Don and is now working on a sequel) or Hrithik Roshan who is currently working on remaking Agneepath, one of Bachchan’s most memorable roles as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan?
For those who thought that AB has become too ‘Bbuddah’ for such things, we can only wait and watch as he ups the ante.
June 7, 2011 at 9:37 AM
Satyam, how positive are you about Bbuddah? I saw your posting blog.
June 7, 2011 at 9:54 AM
I am very positive about it. Just don’t know what kind of audience it will attract. I am expecting some minimal numbers here. I see many pathways here. My worst case scenario involves it doing 30 crores or so, assuming it is minimally liked. But I think this could do a lot more than this. Or let me put it this way — I think Bachchan in this subject should not do anything less than 40 crores all things considered. More than this is possible too. The difference might be the advertising. It’s alright so far and the film has a greater presence in India according to Bachchan. But I think it needs to be taken to a whole different level. Perhaps it will be. I don’t know. If I were in charge of this show my operative sense would be that this film can do 40-50 crores and I would then advertise based on this premise.
June 7, 2011 at 9:38 AM
I don’t think the dialogue writer had this in mind.
As far as I’m concerned the only ‘copying’ was the name ‘Don’.
The story itself isn’t new.
Shammi Kapoor lovers will know the film ‘China Town’ in 1962 where he made a very suave Don.
An year earler was the very first ‘Don’ film – with IS
Johar and Geeta Bali, called ‘Mr India’ in 1961.
“THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL *DON* FILMS” – as far as I’m concerned.
They should have changed the name if at all.
June 7, 2011 at 9:48 AM
Oldgold, you might have missed some of the lines and songs that came only from Bachchan’s Don in the SRK version..
As for those older films you are right in some ways but SRK very specifically remade Bachchan’s Don and that’s all they kept talking about. He and Akhtar. I would be very surprised if either SRK or Akhtar have seen those films, I’d be surprised if they’d even heard of the older Mr India!
I don’t quite see why you need to rewrite what’s so obvious just to justify SRK. And even if you want to you can hardly deny the fact that he only had the Bachchan version in mind when doing this.
Mehboob Khan made a film called Aurat many years before Mother India which more or less has the same plot. He in a way remade his own film. The older film is hardly known, the newer one is. That’s the reference point, the film that made history.
The writer might or might not have these newer remakes in mind but certainly the line sounds suggestive in the trailer.
There are very many stories that aren’t necessarily new under the sun. But one has to look at the most iconic examples.
June 7, 2011 at 6:14 PM
It’s not about defending SRK.
My point is about ‘copying’.
If dialogues were copied in the new Don, can’t we say that the first Don’s story was copied from the earlier two?
I’m pretty sure the story writer was familiar with Mr India 1961 and China Town 1962.
June 7, 2011 at 6:33 PM
But I’m not talking about ‘copying’ at all. I’m referring to remakes. Farhan Akhtar and SRK said they were remaking Bachchan’s Don as they were huge fans, they even retained specific songs and lines from the film. Is this really the same as the Don plot being loosely similar to that of China Town?!
I think this is your roundabout way of ‘rescuing’ SRK!
June 7, 2011 at 6:54 PM
Perhaps the word ‘remake’ sounds more elegant than ‘copying’.
The former you announce, the latter you do quietly hoping nobody will catch you.
June 7, 2011 at 7:59 PM
I don’t know, you should ask Farhan and SRK why they used ‘remake’ and not ‘copy’!
check out the plot of China Town from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Town_%281962_film%29
and also how they characterize Don as having borrowed ‘some elements’. I guess for you this is the same a full-fledged remake. By that argument Deewar copies Mother India! So whether you have people copying wholesale, borrowing plot elements or launching official remakes it’s all the same.
Don’t you think that even as a fan one should display minimal integrity? Or does one torture language to simply defend one’s favorite star?
I suppose Hrithik could now say that his Agneepath remake is no more nor less than Agneepath’s own Deewar rewrite!
but here’s the plot of Mr India:
http://memsaabstory.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/mr-india-1961/
is this like the Don remake? Gimme a break!
June 8, 2011 at 5:45 AM
Why give me the link?
Do you think I don’t know the plot? What an insult not only to a lover of old cinema, but to indicate that I’m speaking without knowing the plot!!!
I’VE SEEN THE FILM!!!
Here’s the link to it (though I have the DVD);
The plot is similar in all four;
-two look alikes
-but opposite in character (one sophisticated the other a simpleton)
-the sophisticated one in all is a criminal
-the simpleton learns the ways of the other to impersonate him to help the police while the other is out of the way (in prison or dead).
Now to this one can add the contemporary needs of style/music/action/different subplots/ etc
Note: The first Don’s friend is also Helen as in the third.
>Don’t you think that even as a fan one should display minimal integrity?
Yes, Satyam. Please do.
>Or does one **torture language** to simply defend one’s favorite star?
*torture language*
Ha! Tell me about it
June 8, 2011 at 8:19 AM
Oldgold.,,, here’s the problem:
1)You will not even repeat what SRK and Farhan have said the explicit aim of their film was — to remake Bachchan’s Don.
2)To get around it your argument once upon a time was that the original Don wasn’t one of Bachchan’s very iconic films. But your other argument is that it has a plot similar to China Town (since then you’ve included Mr India too). My point is: so what? No one’s denying the similarities but that a remake means something very specific. There are dozens and dozens of heist movies in Hollywood but the recent Italian Job remade the older one with Michael Caine much as the recent Thomas Crown Affair remade the older one with Steve McQueen. What would your response be? To hunt older Hollywood films with heists and suggest that even the original Italian Job or Thomas Crown affair weren’t original enough!
3)When cornered this way you claim that a ‘remake’ is an official name for ‘copying’ older films when in fact the older films were doing the same without even calling it as such.
4)What’s the common thread that runs through everything here? That SRK’s film not be seen as secondary or lesser in any sense. Therefore the way to get around it is to deconstruct the older Don at every turn. It’s like if one says Agneepath is a remake of the older film of the same title and again something Johar and Hrithik explicitly say you immediately start deconstructing the older Agneepath and say the plot is very similar to Deewar and that the film was copying the older film without admitting it. But of course you never say this for Agneepath when the case is even easier than the one you’re making on Don. The standard you’re using would make every other film in Hindi cinema a copy of every other. So one could say AAA is a copy of Yaadon ki Baraat because you have three kids in each case who separate at birth and who then meet as adults and so on. I could say Bhatt’s Naam is simply a copy of Deewar but he doesn’t want to admit it. So on and so forth. There is a difference between borrowing themes from a film or its tropes and actually remaking it. Similarly many plots are similar, this does not still constitute a remake.
The problem is you refuse to address what SRK and Farhan have themselves called their aim. Your entire argument relies on a level of deliberate distortion. Why? Because you have not once raised the same defense for Agneepath even though I have criticized the film as harshly on similar grounds. It is only with Don where you begin to have problems. And you entire set of reasons are designed to ‘protect’ the new Don from some of the charges. If there weren’t these reasons available there would be others. Because these aren’t sincerely held convictions on your part. I had a problem with SRK doing Don for certain reasons, I had a problem with Hrithik doing Agneepath for the very same reasons. But at least both those guys are taking up very iconic Bachchan roles. I also have a problem with Abhishek doing Amol Palekar in Golmaal and anyone even thinking of remaking that film. You’re not displaying such consistency. You have a problem only in one instance. So it’s hard for me to take you seriously when you will not even repeat what Farhan and SRK have always claimed to be their goal — of remaking Don. Or when you will not extend the same logic to other such examples.
And when one is cornered what does one do? Resort to smileys and the like! And you refer to all ‘four’ films here. The fact that three of those films have similarities is noteworthy because China Town wasn’t being called a remake of Mr India and Don wasn’t being called a remake of China Town or Mr India. However the new Don cannot be made part of this series because there everyone started out calling it a remake. So you pretend that there’s some coincidental similarity here as well! You have never once called the new film a remake. Let’s start with this basic fact and then we can move onto other stuff!
I offered those plot details by the way for the benefit of others reading this. So that they could see what the distinctions were. Deewar has some loose elements borrowed from On the waterfront but it also has a more direct link with Mother India. Doesn’t mean it’s a ‘copy’. Dev Anand’s Baarish on the other hand sticks very close to On the Waterfront. Raj Kapoor’s Phir Subah Hogi again has some elements borrowed from Crime and Punishment. So there are these important distinctions. However if one simply wants to defend one film at any cost one starts playing linguistic games.
June 8, 2011 at 5:53 AM
PS: It’s like you being given the link to one of ABsr’s film plots.
June 8, 2011 at 11:05 AM
No, I’m not denying the remake business. My aim is just to state that;
-4th Don is a remake (declared by the makers), of the 3rd Don
-the 3rd Don has the basic structure of the first and second.
So why is one frowned upon and not the other?
Because it happens to be the remake of AB’s Don which you consider iconic?
What’s the difference?
4th – remake of 3rd
3rd – copied the structure to build on from 1st and 2nd
I feel the makers of 3rd Don should have paid tribute to the earlier ones for their brilliant structure which had an immense opportunity to fit it in with the style of ABsr, and also seen by the maker of 4th to fit it in the style of SRK.
ALAS!! If it hadn’t been for the 1st and 2nd…………………!!!!!!!
…
June 8, 2011 at 1:15 PM
No because there are good remakes and miserable remakes! and some films are so full realized, so iconic that one must have a very good reason to remake them. The SRK Don is a disaster compared to Bachchan’s version and I expect Hrithik’s Agneepath to be similar to it in this sense! Bachchan’s Don on the other hand despite its campy feel (which is part of its charm) is infinitely superior to Shammi’s China Town (a film which even on its own merits is alright but nothing special). It is better than Mr India though.
I am not against remakes, just dumb ones! I didn’t have a problem with Naam intelligently reworking Deewar, in fact I have quite a weakness for the film. Similarly Golmaal is such a classic and Amol Palekar-Utpal Dutt so brilliant in it that I don’t believe the film can be approached let alone bettered. Of course Rohit Shetty will probably make it a lot more slapstick and get a hit out of it. Amol was brilliant in these parts but did not have the iconic heft of a Bachchan. Nonetheless this film should not be touched. I say it even though I know Abhishek has a flair for comedy, that he needs box office glory, that this might be an easy hit when redone by Rohit Shetty. I am STILL opposed to it. So forget SRK and Hrithik touching some very iconic Bachchan parts I don’t even want Abhishek to touch Palekar! Of course the really appalling thing here is Devgan doing Utpal Dutt. In any I’ve made all of this very clear before.
But again one should be honest about these things. Farhan and SRK had Bachchan’s Don as their ONLY reference point. Whatever were the sources of the original Don SRK and Farhan were assuredly not following them. So your entire argument about the original sources is void when it comes to SRK’s Don. Of course I note a certain slippage here. China Town itself shouldn’t be considered original at all by your lights! So Mr India has then spawned China Town! By the way the original China Town led to an MGR remake. But Bachchan’s Don led to Rajni’s iconic remake (which then spawned Ajith’s remake), one in Telugu (which also spawned its own remake), one with Mohanlal as well. Rajni’s Billa became iconic on its own. So there are the ‘iconic’ sweepstakes. Sometimes remakes become legendary in their own right. Sadly SRK was to be denied this and all the hype in the world cannot make up this gap nor will a sequel be able to fill in (though this might be better than the first attempt as it will be more or less a thriller sort of deal with the Don label added on). SRK’s film is therefore not at all like Rajni’s Billa.
Unfortunately for you as a SRK fan Oldgold I am not so confused about all of this. Nor can I become so try hard as you will!
June 8, 2011 at 2:12 PM
Sorry to jump in here Satyam, Oldgold – Can you tell me the names of the characters in Bachchans Don and SRK’s don? and can you tell me the name of the characters from Bachchans Don and China Town & Mr. India? Hmm..I guess they were not the same right? So indeed your SRK’s Don is a remake of the Original Don. Also, lets not forget the third term here along with remake & copying, which is “inspired” I know a lot of people have been using this word very loosely these days, But Old Don was some what inspired from the 2 older films you mentioned. The basic premise maybe the same, but its subplots and other parts were completely different, SRK’s Don is a complete lift of the Original Don, even the subplots, The only change I hear is the Ending (which kind of defeats the purpose, if you ask me) and no 2nd child for JJ. I know you do agree that new don is a remake, but if you claim that Bachchans Don was also a remake or copy and no one is frowning over it? well, sorry to disappoint you yet again my friend, but the truth of the matter is, It was not a complete lift off of the older version and it was just an inspired from it. Can you call Sholay a copied/remake movie? No, because it has its own plots and subplots and the way the story is told is vastly different from MANY films that it is inspired from, for ex: Once upon a time in the west, The good bad and the ugly and a few more spaghetti westerns. For me, Ghulam is a copy/remake of On the waterfront, But it was ofcourse Indianised for us. Even its subplots were similar. So there is a difference. Sorry to keep adding this again and again satyam, just like you I am Royally pissed off about the remakes, but here it goes. TO ALL BACHCHAN FANS PLEASE BOYCOTT WATCHING HRITHIKS AGNEEPATH IN THE THEATERS. KJO SAYS THAT HE WANTS A HIT TAG NEXT TO AGNEEPATH THATS WHY HE IS REMAKING IT, WHICH IS AN ABSURD REASON (RE-RELEASE THE OLDER VERSION THEN). SO, IF YOU LIKE PLEASE BOYCOTT IT AND DO NOT WATCH IT IN THE THEATERS, YOUR CHOICE. MAKE THAT A WISE ONE.
June 7, 2011 at 10:46 AM
yeh aajkal ke chokra log mera copy……………….
………..abhi hum tumko original dikhata hoon.. 
haha..
June 8, 2011 at 1:27 AM
Hi Satyam,
I Just heard that Arakshan first look will be revealed on 9th June. As of now BBuddah is releasing first and this is my gut feeling that publicity of both movies shouldn’t be overlapped. I feel Arakshan publicity should start after release of Bbuddah .. May be from 7th July, but certainly not now. If two movies start promotion in parallel, it definitely divide the attention and overall effect of both will be diluted. For benefit of both movies, Mr. Jha and BigB should make a perfect strategy and there should not be any try to overlap. Keep coming the Bbuddah trailer and other stuffs, keep Arakshan to hold until Bbuddah release.
I guess you can convey same message to BigB more effectively on his blog.
Thanks.
June 8, 2011 at 3:48 AM
Satyam? Anyone? How do you read comments on Twitter w/o an acct myself? For the last one month or so I have not been able to read AB’s tweets, goes onto some ‘welcome to twitter’ page. Help,anyone, Satyam?
Also, can I please see/hear AB’s song that he has sung for Mr B in BHTB.
June 8, 2011 at 5:00 AM
if u dont have acnt, than just paste this in search option box on the main twitter page, #SrBachchan and ok…
all the tweets of bachchan wil be displayed and as u scroll down more tweets will get displayed
June 8, 2011 at 5:08 AM
no # only SrBachchan
June 8, 2011 at 5:41 AM
Loving all the two new promo’s! Agree that they are even better than the first! ABsir is totally Rocking!!!
June 8, 2011 at 5:43 AM
Thought the music was going to release yesterday, havn’t heard anything about it yet and ABsir didn’t mention anything about it on the blog yesterday either. Anyone know what’s going on with that?
June 8, 2011 at 7:57 AM
breaking newsss..KADER KHAN TO PLAY GENERAL GADDAFFI in Jugmohan mundras next!!!
June 8, 2011 at 8:27 AM
AB’s interview
http://www.digitalspy.com/bollywood/interviews/a323729/amitabh-bachchan-bbuddah-hoga-tera-baap.html
June 8, 2011 at 10:56 AM
when is the music launch of bbuddah…
June 8, 2011 at 1:51 PM
Having seen these promos a few times, I can see beyond the somewhat garish make up at times and get the feeling Puri knows what he is doing and this should work beond original expectations.
June 8, 2011 at 2:29 PM
Abhishek sings for Amitabh
TNN | Jun 7, 2011, 12.00am IST
Abhishek Bachchan is fast becoming as popular a playback singer as his dad Amitabh Bachchan is.
The young actor who sang Thayn Thayn in Dum Maaro Dum will surprise the audience with a stanza that he has sung for his father in a remix of some famous Amitabh yesteryear numbers in their home production Bbuddah Hoga Tere Baap. Those who have been fortunate to have been treated to the song before it becomes public say, “Abhishek has done such a good job. The rest of the song is sung by Amitabh. However, Abhishek’s stanza is the highlight. Must say Abhi’s voice suits his dad.” Will this mean Junior will sing for AB Senior more often?
June 8, 2011 at 2:37 PM
Last I heard that Jr was going to sing for this album with AB singing to his old songs and Jr rapping in between, something to that effect, not sure how true that is. We will just have to wait and watch…err listen.
June 8, 2011 at 3:43 PM
(young)gold strikes back….lol
June 8, 2011 at 11:30 PM
IAMTHAT, many thanks buddy, am reading Jr’s tweets after almost a month, thanks once again. As for the song, Mr B mentioned on today’s blogpost that the promo will be out soon.
June 9, 2011 at 4:15 PM
This looks like fun! More than Aarakshan, I seriously hope this film gets an enthusiastic response.
June 9, 2011 at 9:50 PM
Can you tell us about your character?
He is an ex-gangster, living out of the country, but back in town on a mission.
http://bollyspice.com/view.php/7250-8220-my-character-in-bbuddah-is-trendy-unapologetic-and-strong-8221-mr-amtiabh-bachchan.html
June 10, 2011 at 5:10 PM
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/big-b-on-his-latest-role/202212
June 10, 2011 at 5:42 PM
good stuff..
June 10, 2011 at 10:39 PM
haal-e-dil full song AWSOME
June 10, 2011 at 11:42 PM
beautiful…
June 11, 2011 at 5:36 AM
the sound is not clear though!!!
when was the music launch!!!
June 11, 2011 at 6:33 AM
Amitji just tweeted that the music got leaked by the processor
June 11, 2011 at 7:02 AM
ohh i just read!!!
what is happening!!!
music launch was delayed and now this hacking..
what is happening..
I seriously doubt competence and integrity of Viacom and t series..some thing is fishy!!!!
June 11, 2011 at 9:38 AM
Bigb interview on BHTB with Anu
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/big-b-on-his-latest-role/202212
June 11, 2011 at 9:39 AM
yeah Aby2000 put it up yesterday..
June 11, 2011 at 9:50 AM
Bigb interview on BHTB with Anu
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/big-b-on-his-latest-role/202212
Link to Hale Dil song that was “leaked” out
June 11, 2011 at 9:52 AM
O….Sorry…Delete my comment then…also your commenting section is royally messed up (what do you change? Unchange it please)….Also delete this comment as well
June 11, 2011 at 10:16 AM
no it’s fine.. on the comments wordpress has changed the format, it’s not me.
June 11, 2011 at 7:09 PM
nice song.
Haal-E-Dil – Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap (2011) – Amitabh Bachchan, Shekhar & Monali
June 11, 2011 at 7:26 PM
Thanx Ted—Good song.
Hope this signifies an “emotional” subtext in this otherwise “over the top” fare….Amitabh (still) is sublime in this sort of terrain!!
June 11, 2011 at 7:44 PM
I was not impressed so far with “over the top”. This one is a cool breeze.
June 12, 2011 at 8:47 AM
Amitabh’s Bbuddah… was supposed to be a remake
Considering his status, every director aspires to work with Amitabh Bachchan. It was no different for Puri Jagannath, who’s helming Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap with the actor. Interestingly, the filmmaker, who started as an associate with Ram Gopal Varma, concedes that his initial plan was to remake a Hollywood movie with Bachchan.
Puri reveals that he’d expressed his wish of working with the actor to RGV first. “I wanted to remake Taken (2008) starring Liam Neeson, with Amit ji. So I asked Ramu if he’d seen it. He hadn’t, but he suggested that I write something original instead,” says the director.
After a week of brainstorming, Puri shared a concept with RGV, which he felt was apt for a film with Big B. “Ramu liked it and soon Amitabh Bachchanfixed up a meeting with Amit ji,” says Puri, summing up how he got the actor on board. Ask him why he was prompted to revisit the Angry Young Man image in his film, though Bachchan had started playing his age with Agneepath, and Puri reiterates, “Having grown up seeing Amit ji’s movies, I wanted to see him as a larger than life persona on screen again. After some time, no one was making those kinds of films with him. So he was not playing that kind of character and no one was writing those lines for him any more,” he reasons.
Tell him that there’s been plenty of buzz about Big B doing action a la Salman Khan in Wanted (2009), a remake of Puri’s Telugu hit, Pokhiri (2006), and the director smiles, “It would be wrong to compare. But it would suffice to say that the character, his guts and the dialogue are the highlight of Bbuddah.”
Further, he maintains that only one line is borrowed from Bachchan’s previous films – ‘Hum jahaan khade ho jaate hain, line vahin se shuru ho jaati hai,’ (the line starts wherver I stand), which is in the promos currently on air. “Apart from this, all lines are new, but retain the essence of his earlier films,” says the director as he gears up for the film’s July 1 release.
June 13, 2011 at 12:39 AM
Medley Song BHTB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl602rEOj8o ROCKING
June 13, 2011 at 12:25 PM
Satyam, did you hear Bbuddha;s music? It looks Ready’s BO overtook everything…
Even strong SK’s fans moved away , and waiting for Bodyguard.
June 13, 2011 at 12:28 PM
not the whole thing.. loved Bachchan’s slower melody here.. some of the other stuff seems catchy enough and should work well with the movie.
June 14, 2011 at 4:31 AM
Satyam,can u plz explain why Big B laughs in this scene from 3.25?
June 14, 2011 at 6:42 AM
Puri’s interview
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2011/06/14/7595/index.html
“Mr. Bachchan just couldn’t stop during action sequences” – Puri Jagannadh
By Devansh Patel, June 14, 2011 – 12:32 IST
Puri Jagannadh My father stood in a queue to watch Sholay. Puri Jagannadh too has done it, and I’m sure many of you out there too must have at some given point in your life. But such was the allure of Amitabh Bachchan back then. Today, many seem that he has become placid in his portrayals on screen but come July 1, the angry young man gives way to the angry old man in Puri Jagannadh’s Bbuddah…Hoga Terra Baap. The South Indian director has just arrived in Bollywood and look what he has done? He has presented Amitabh Bachchan as never before: colourful, cajoling and kicking. The question is – Will Puri take it one notch higher? To find out more on the origin of Bbuddah and the loss of the angry young man, UK’s Harrow Observer columnist and Bollywood Hungama’s London correspondent talks to the director who has given his heart and soul to bring the hero of heroes, Amitabh Bachchan on celluloid all over again. Matinee time is just around the corner and so are the long queues. And believe you me, advance booking starts NOW!
“I stopped watching Mr. Bachchan’s films till I came across RGV’s Sarkar and the rest is history”
I’ve been a big fan of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan since childhood and I used to watch his movies like Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay and Agneepath. He is dynamic and a superstar in front of me. Then he was never seen in the angry young man look for decades. So I stopped watching his films also. For me, Amitabh Bachchan was the epitome of angry. After twenty five years, I watched Sarkar and I called RGV. I have been an assistant director for Ram Gopal Varma. I called and I told him that I wanted to cast Mr. Bachchan in a role for the film that I had written. RGV then took me to Mr. Bachchan and he agreed to do the film.
“I never dreamt that I would work with Mr. Bachchan”
I never dreamt that I would work with Mr. Bachchan in my life because I was just a fan of his. So seeing Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap come to life is a surprise but it’s still a film that I have directed and it’s my work.
Puri Jagannadh “Mr. Bachchan told me to mellow down the action sequences but he lied. He just couldn’t stop once on set”
I did design the action sequences that could be handled by Mr. Bachchan but he told me to mellow down in the action sequences. He was honest to tell me that he won’t be able to do too many action sequences. But he lied (laughs). He is so energetic that he just couldn’t stop once in the character.
“There will be a long queue to watch him in Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap”
Now-a-days, the youth is watching Amitabh Bachchan on the big screen anyway. But back then, I used to stand in a queue to watch him. I want today’s youth to do just that. There will be a long queue to watch him in Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap, that’s what I wish. It’s a different feeling altogether. Yes, the Rajinikanth fascination is hitting Bollywood big time.
“When RGV told Mr. Bachchan the name of the film is Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap, he laughed out loud”
When RGV told Mr. Bachchan the name of the film is Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap, he laughed out loud. It was the most unexpected title ever. But in today’s time the youth really gets their first flavour of the film from its title. I think this is the most risky title that many of our actors or directors or producers would never go with.
“Mr. Bachchan wants to go beyond his characters sometimes”
Mr. Bachchan got so many colourful goggles that I asked myself ‘Why’ (laughs). But deep down he has this fire in him. He took me home and showed me some of the stuff he brought. That’s passion for cinema. That’s the level of commitment he brings. He even got some tiger print pants that I and you will never buy but when you have a role like this, Mr. Bachchan wants to go beyond and that’s good.
Puri Jagannadh “Sonal Chauhan has played her role with zest”
I earlier wanted Kangna Ranaut for the role that is now being portrayed by Sonal Chauhan in Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap. I didn’t get Kangna’s dates and so went with Sonal after the auditions. She is very good in the film. She has played her role with zest.
“Bbuddah started with a dialogue and then the story”
When I thought of the title Bbuddah, I didn’t know what kind of a story I was going to write. But I wrote one dialogue before writing the story, “Agar mein marunga, toh goli se marunga, BP ya sugar se nahi.” (If I die I will die from a bullet and not from BP or Sugar). That triggered off the rest of the film. I designed the protagonist on those lines. The movie will certainly have a repeat audience, I can guarantee.
“I am getting offers to direct in Hindi now”
I am getting offers to direct in Hindi now after the first promo and the look is out. I have been working in Hyderabad since a decade but now I want to make some more Hindi films because I am also starting to live in Mumbai (laughs). “Mr. Bachchan makes sure that everything is proper from pre to post”
Mr. Bachchan saw the whole film and he told me to edit some scenes only to better the film. Yes, he does talk to you and gives you his personal input but more than that, he makes sure that everything is done correctly in the scene, be it lighting, direction, co-actors and even editing.
“To have the premiere of Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap in London will be amazing”
I told Mr. Bachchan to have the premiere of the film in London. That’ll be quite something. Let’s see whether we are successful in doing that or not.
June 14, 2011 at 10:51 AM
I can certainly relate to the way he responds to that first question here. In Bachchan’s case it’s not (for the fan) about being addicted to an image but to an entire political configuration. Having said that I think Poori errs in finding the truth of the angry young man repeated in Sarkar. I have always insisted on this. Because the Bachchan of Sarkar much like that of K3G is as much a monument in granite. Now of course one prefers the former to the latter but the ‘mode’ is still the same and it is unfortunately an impulse that most directors have been afflicted by. To present Bachchan as a monument. The problem then is that he is not often given the chance to play a nuanced character. And I fear that Aarakshan has the same problem. I found the trailer very effective but if one is going in as a Bachchan fan one will see the monument once more. The problem with playing ‘monument’ is that one also represents institutionalization. This too is not a charge that can be connected to that of the angry young man.
Said something similar here the other day.
June 14, 2011 at 11:09 AM
to complete the thought on Bachchan his signature remains the single biggest ‘question’ of the present. It is still the ‘unresolved’. For two reasons: firstly Bachchan’s own career over the last decade or more where he mostly walks away from that history. But secondly Abhishek’s career who promises a ‘return’ in some sense (this must not naively be read as simply repetition.. this is about ‘signature’ not the gestures of the father understood in an obvious sense) also contains its own ‘unresolved’. Once again the box office illustrates this but also because ‘interesting’ failures have been authentic responses to that signature. He can certainly do run of the mill from time to time but not as a career path. Because that even if successful would empty out his meaning.
Now why do I say that his signature remains the biggest question of the present? Haven’t there been successful stars elsewhere doing all sorts of things? Yes. But those aren’t of the order of interesting or important questions. Those attempts are equivalent to a kind of cinema based on polls. You just satisfy the audience. You give it what it wants. You push the right buttons. But you don’t lead the audience anywhere. There is nothing new that emerges therefore. It’s just about trends and fads. Aamir remains an exception to a degree here because he has re-introduced about the notion of meaningful cinema and and put it at the forefront. The truth is that while most stars would like to have a Dabanng or a Ghajini they’d choose RDB over these if they could (Aamir gets to do both!). So Aamir has made ‘prestige’ all important. Here people sometimes argue that distributors love the Ready sort of film and so on. Sure they do! But the system nonetheless places a premium on the prestige films which is why there are so many of these and in defiance of the box office (not many work and even the ones that do work partially for the most part). But I said ‘to a degree’ with Aamir because in the context of this discussion Aamir too hasn’t spearhead a definite political framework. It is basically a combination of the rooted and the meaningful which is of course very important but it is still an abstraction in his body of work over this past decade. In other words when one looks at the angry young man he’s arguing for something very specific. Aamir does this once in MP, this film says something specific. RDB does too (even if I find the thesis here muddled). But generally speaking the overall trajectory really goes from film to film without there being a connecting idea other than ‘rootedness’ and ‘quality’. Today this should become Aamir’s task. He’s achieved everything he needed to in terms of hits and in all kinds of genres. He should now take it further precisely by returning to the concerns of MP. Not a period piece or anything. Just anything that retriggers the concerns of that earlier film.
Here people completely misread Abhishek for his choices (he signs with the right directors but has no script sense). Abhishek is precisely the guy who keeps doing Mangal Pandey! One can debate the box office merits of this but that’s another matter. There is however a certain continuity here. Note how when he feels he needs to do stuff for box office reasons he completely moves away from that paradigm and does stuff like Italian Job and Bol Bacchchan and whatever. On the one hand one might wonder why he cannot do the meaningful film but with some more ‘compromise’ and hence make it more palatable at the box office. But that is how he stays true to the authenticity of those questions. By either doing Raavan or Italian Job! Now (and as I said sometime back) there is a way to make a successful film out of Delhi 6 or Raavan or MP or what have you. But it would take writers like Salim-Javed and some of the greatest scripts ever for this improbable marriage to be brought about.
June 14, 2011 at 9:45 AM
not sure what you mean? It’s fairly obvious..
June 14, 2011 at 12:37 PM
Feverbaba..satyam might elaborate on this.. but
if you listen he smiles and says Master jee..listening to words of the commissioner vijay is reminded of his Father!!!
June 14, 2011 at 12:43 PM
that is explicit.. quite puzzled as to what Feverbaba’s question is about..
June 15, 2011 at 2:51 AM
i think d scene wanted to convey dat vijay was sure his father was not an ideal kind of person to survive in todays day n age but when he saw the commissoner ,he laughs sarcastically to find a similar person who wud ,in all possibility,achieve a fate like his father did.
June 14, 2011 at 6:55 AM
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa … Teri Beep Ki Beep …
June 14, 2011 at 10:30 AM
I have no hope on this film. BUT only hope is, all my no hopes have been turning into blockbusters.
June 14, 2011 at 10:31 AM
sorry for too many hopes
June 14, 2011 at 10:45 AM
one should never compromise on one’s hopes.. you’re authentic..!
June 14, 2011 at 10:45 AM
I am very positive about this one..
June 14, 2011 at 11:57 AM
AB’ on twitter:
Jitni gaali deni hai de do mujhe..mai retweet karoonga, aur film ko bhi promote karunga..kyunki ‘chaah’ aur ‘chahane wale’ zindabad !
And now with a smile and a bounce in my walk I shall attend the BigFm Awards for Tv .. a nomination there for me .. lets see !!
June 14, 2011 at 12:26 PM
haha beep beep beep
June 14, 2011 at 12:30 PM
Isn’t ‘Teri Beep’ dialogue a reminder of Dabbang’s Hmm tum main itne chaid kerain ge k confuse ho jao ge k sans kahan se lain or padain kahan se…
June 14, 2011 at 12:41 PM
Don’t think there was a reminder but Hindi audiences who are unaware of this brand of Southern masala have only the Dabanng model to go on. These sorts of lines (always with some humor to them) are really staple for that genre. And Poori has been at the forefront of this wave for a while. But this kind of tone can again be traced back to Bachchan’s own glory days as I never tire of pointing out. This is what his one man industry phase from the 80s is about. It isn’t what the 70s represented where the lines always emerged very organically from the script.
June 14, 2011 at 3:52 PM
It just cracks me when people say AB is copying Salman… those who say that have no idea about what AB is all about!!!
June 14, 2011 at 11:12 PM
Hold your horses & don’t get crack by the wild imagination! Is there any alphabets of mine or an infinite combination of it implies the most improbable and insane comparison betn Sallu & AB? Probably this is the 1st time Sallu gets honored to have his name in the same sentence along with AB by me. To compare two is like comparing Yash chopra’s grumbling in VR to AB’s timeless rendition in Silsila.
Dabbang was mention just to pointed out southern touch as Satyam rightly explained.
June 15, 2011 at 3:06 AM
i’m sorry Pradip… i wasn’t even referring to your comment, didn’t even read it, was reacting to Satyam’s comment!
June 14, 2011 at 12:55 PM
why r u relating with dabang.. no pradip it is not a reminder!!!! now dont come and tell me why amitabh bachchan is angry and walking and talking and fighting like some other hero!!!!!! haan the other way is hugely possible!!!!!!!
June 14, 2011 at 1:38 PM
Go Meera is a catchy song.
June 15, 2011 at 7:28 AM
Amit kumar panday-let me repeat my reply to aby2000 who graciously clarified and I must thank him for that but U still seem to be pointing gun at me for all wrong reasons.
“Hold your horses & don’t get crack by the wild imagination! Is there any alphabets of mine or an infinite combination of it implies the most improbable and insane comparison betn Sallu & AB? Probably this is the 1st time Sallu gets honored to have his name in the same sentence along with AB by me. To compare two is like comparing Yash chopra’s grumbling in VR to AB’s timeless rendition in Silsila.
Dabbang was mention just to pointed out southern touch as Satyam rightly explained.”
June 15, 2011 at 1:34 PM
pradip i did not see your other comment…. the msgs are being saved haphazardly …
satyam,, plz see what can be done ..else plz open a new bbuddah link.
June 15, 2011 at 1:49 PM
will open one with the next trailer.. there seems to be a wordpress glitch though I think it was worse some days ago.. haven’t noticed any problems very recently.. still this thread has too many comments.. will start a new one with the next.
June 14, 2011 at 2:37 PM
Big Beep is funny.
Go Meera is a possible chartbuster after its video is out as Abhi and Big B sound rocking with Big B classic songs.
June 17, 2011 at 5:39 AM
I’m kinda jealous of the Amitabh fans cos this film looks like it’ll b a blast for them