“The best of Bachchan” by Shivaay (Updated)

The best of Bachchan 2a… 1980-85 : Sellout man!

Megastardom firmly established, it was time for film makers to feed off the same & fill their coffers!!

1. Shaan : Vijay Kumar

Suave, stylish and a Bond like figure in Hindi cinema, Shaan’s Vijay Kumar continues from where DON left off 2 years ago. A highly underrated film that eventually got its due despite record breaking costs thanks to director Sippy’s post Sholay demand!

2. Namak Halaal : Arjun Singh

If Amar Akbar Anthony was a glimpse, Namak Halaal was Big B at his full time comical best with crackling dialogues & astonishing camaraderie with Om Prakash that’d make you LOL!! And yes he indeed can walk & talk English 😉

3. Shakti : Vijay Kumar

A complete anti thesis of Namak Halal, Shakti brings together 2 of Hindi cinema’s greatest ever for the one and only time on screen. A plot similar to Deewaar (except for the upright cop being a dad instead of a bro this time around) yet given a treatment so depressing, brooding & dark, even the die hard Bachchan fans of the times weren’t completely receptive of their icon hardly having any punchlines in this character. Sippy the master at his best yet again!

4. Coolie : Iqbal Khan

The movie that brought the entire nation to a standstill. Who would have known an entirely ordinary & run of the mill over the top Manmohan Desai masala flick would attain cult, almost divine status thanks to one fight sequence that almost fatally injured their demi god! Bachchan made Puneet Issar a household name thanks to the infamous fight sequence and for almost 6 months post the accident India’s junta made sure all the gods were kept on duty round the clock.

5. Sharaabi : To some its Bachchan’s best ever (impossible to choose one) but nailing the drunkard act without going hyperbolic and yet keeping it subtle and toned down is something only an Amitabh Bachchan can manage. Single handedly elevating the stature of an otherwise Average film.

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The best of Bachchan, part 1 (personal take) :

1. Anand (1971) : Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee

Never mind him playing second fiddle, the angst, despair and broodiness of the potential angry young man gave its earliest glimpses in this Hrishikesh Mukherjee classic.

2. Zanjeer (1973) : Inspector Vijay Khanna

The beginning of the cult of Vijay, the beginning of Salim Javed collaborations and a special partnership with Prakash Mehra. A masala actioner of epic proportions, one that still inspires film makers to recreate the anti establishment cop in films like Singham and Dabangg.

3. Namak Haraam (1973) : Vikram Maharaj

Another Hrishi da classic that focusses on the rise of unions with the backdrop of Bombay’s textile mills and inflation in the early 1970s. The anti establishment hero is part of the capitalist establishment itself out here in a role reversal. Also the film which marked the end of Khanna’s high headed arrogant ways along with his superstardom as well. The script twisting antics of Khanna proved to be counter productive in the long run!

4. Abhimaan (1973) : Subir Kumar

Playing second fiddle to the heroine of the film and yet holding your own in a non commercial musical venture, churning out a box office success in the process. Kudos to the legend of Hrishi da for recognizing the Big B beyond his anti esblishment aura.

5. Deewaar (1975) : Vijay Verma

No words are suffice for this film as well as his performance. Such is the cult stature of the atheist gangster, his lines are still referenced nearly 50 years later. Yash Chopra’s greatest ever in my opinion!

6. Sholay (1975) : Jai

I wonder if Ramesh Sippy or Salim Javed ever realized what they were in the process of creating when this movie was being made. Had the pleaure of witnessing it on the big screen in 2014 when it re-released in 3D and the sheer experience of the film is mesmerizing enough to make you watch it again, and again and again!

7. Chupke Chupke (1975) : Parimal Tripathi

A hat trick of classics in 1975. A relatively small role yet one where he steals the show with his mere presence. The English professor who’d later on go on to walk, talk, eat, sleep and breathe English in every sense.

8. Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) : Anthony

Far from being one of my favorite films but the only reason I can tolerate its completely random and crazy lack of logic and sense is due to Bachchan saab’s hilarious take as Anthony Gonsalves. Bandaging your image in front of a mirror is as hilariously demented as it gets.

9. Don (1978) : Don

Vijay as Don, Don as Vijay.. suave and rustic in the same film. Bachchan and his alter ego in a high octane masala thriller that’s achieved cult proportions over the years with countless remakes spanning generations from Rajni to SRK to Ajith to Prabhas.

10. Muqaddar ka Sikandar (1978) : Sikandar

Bachchan the loverboy, Bachchan the romantic, Bachchan the tragic hero. Everything myth that he’s never been known for was shattered in this Prakash Mehra classic that decimated every record in the book across the length and breath of India up till the USSR as well.

Honorable mentions : Majboor, Trishul, Mr Natwarlal, Shaan, Laawaris, Kala Patthar and Shakti in his pre Coolie phase.

1983-92 in the next part.