Amitabh Bachchan's turn as the brooding, romantic hero in five films

The first film I ever saw of Amitabh Bachchan in the theatre was Amar, Akbar, Anthony. I must have been in class four and we lived in Vile Parle, Mumbai. We walked to Bahar talkies with the neighbours to watch it. We liked it so much that we ended up seeing it a second time.

In those days, there were two ways of watching movies. The first and most common one was on Doordarshan. But that depended on luck of the draw; you were never sure of what you would get. It would usually be award-winning films, which meant they were of zero entertainment value for any child less than 10 years old. Or you went to the theatre.

We were a big family on one income, which meant movies were maybe a once-a-year indulgence. There were far more important priorities. Amar, Akbar, Anthony changed that. We not only went to see it in the theatre, we went twice over. Anthony Gonsalves became part of family conversation. Bombaiyah, which till then was frowned upon, suddenly became cool. Alcohol, which only bad people drank, suddenly became okay because AB gets drunk in the film. Having a boyfriend was cool because, well, AB was the boyfriend. Not that a student in class 4 was going to have a boyfriend, but I remember previously taboo topics being discussed at home, not in hushed voices, but in good humour.

That was really my introduction to mainstream, masala films. I fell in love with the form, and it is a love affair that has continued all these years. As has a fascination with the films of Amitabh Bachchan.

In recent years, I have felt led down by his films. He is good, but the films themselves do not have a script worthy of him. The only one that stood apart was the first half of Cheeni Kum where he sparkled in a May-September relationship with Tabu. I would love to see him in an Indian adaptation of Lear or Macbeth, maybe even Julius Caesar. The gravitas that he can bring to such a role would give it to another dimension altogether.

When I see his films as an adult, what strikes me about his early period—the Angry Young Man period—is the intensity of the persona as a romantic hero in the classic tortured hero mould. The slightly damaged, totally smouldering man with a chip on his shoulder, which confuses women to death because they don’t know if its their maternal instincts that are activated or their hormones ignited.

These, for me, were his five finest outings as the brooding, romantic hero.

Mili

At the top of the list is Mili. This is as Mills and Boons as it can get. The heroine Mili (Jaya Bhaduri), barely an adult, loves playing with children. She is, in fact, the gang leader in the nice, middle class neighbourhood. The hero—the son of a man who murdered his wife and killed himself—is new man in the building and the object of hushed gossip. He is like a flame to her moth and she can’t resist the temptation to reform the man. They fall in love and then life gets in the way. Watch the film for the chemistry between the two stars. One question the adult me asks herself is this— if you had a daughter like Mili, would you let her hangout with Shekhar?

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Kaala Patthar

This is the story of Vijay, a merchant navy captain, who loses his courage and is disowned by his family. He seeks redemption in a far away coal mine run by heartless capitalists. The story is set in the backdrop of coal nationalisation. Can you imagine a story being based on something like that today? The issues dealt with are worker safety, the right to form a union and the fight against greed. Yes, they made movies around such themes in the 1970s and even in the 1980s. Vijay, an educated naval captain from a middle class home, hangs out with coal miners. Here, he finds not just a sense of community but also a purpose in life, which helps him stop running from his own demons. The doctor at the coal mine, Sudha (Rakhee) is his romantic interest. She is ice, he is fire and the screen is set alight with their sheer chemistry. (But, that is still nothing compared to the chemistry he shares with Shatrughan Sinha).

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Abhimaan

Sigh... What does one say about Abhimaan? We all know this manifestation of Amitabh Bachchan (Subir), a man who assumes his sulks convert into a word bubble, and that telepathy exists. Subir is a popular and successful singer, who meets, falls in love with and marries Uma (Jaya Bhaduri), a classical singer. He cajoles her to start singing with him but is gutted when she becomes more famous than him. His ego drives her away and the film ends with a tentative reconciliation. The early scenes of the marriage are fabulously shot by Hrishikesh Mukherjee— the chemistry of a young couple trying to discover themselves. The chemistry of tension between the husband and the wife, as ego becomes an insurmountable wall between them both, is also fantastically portrayed by both actors. The film has a fantastic soundtrack and, like most of Amitabh Bachchan’s films of that era, had a fairly grown up theme.

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Shakti

This is possibly one of Amitabh Bachchan’s finest films. It is the classic conflict between a cop father (Dilip Kumar) and his son gone awry. Rakhee, who had played his love interest in multiple films, plays his mother in this film. Bachchan is the son who believes that his father loves his job more than he loves his family. The father is hurt his son thinks that way. Neither speak with the other, beyond the most basic (dis)courtesies.

He meets another damaged person, Roma (Smita Patil), in a train compartment and the Galahad in him comes to the fore. They begin living together. For the Bachchan persona, be it in Deewaar (where he takes up with Parveen Babi) or in Shakti, the rules or codes that bind mere mortals did not apply. He stood apart from society while being a part of it. Maybe, that is what made him so attractive a character. The story itself is a tragedy. But, the love affair between Vijay and Roma sparkles. It has none of the naughty chemistry seen in Namak Halaal. This is, by far, a more grown up relationship.

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There are other films in which he is the romantic hero. A long list of them. Two films absent from this list are Kabhi Kabhi and Silsila because, for me, they are the same story. I am possibly going to upset a great many fans of both films, but they really are the same film— about love, youthful indiscretion and acceptance. I have also left out his magnificent romance over a corolla with Jaya Bhaduri in Chupke Chupke  simply because his plays an uncomplicated character.Do Anjaane, another fantastic film with Rekha, is off the list, simply because the Amitabh who smoulders here has no romance, only revenge on his mind.

Sholay

Finally, to complete a list of five but also because it is one of my favourite on screen relationships, Jai and Radha (Amitabh and Jaya Bhaduri) in Sholay. I think they have three scenes together in the film but once again their chemistry, the stolen glances and the slow spiral to tragedy makes the film far more interesting. 

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So on his birthday, here is wishing the biggest B of them all, Amitabh Bachchan, a most wonderful day, thanking him for all the smiles, tears and escapes to a different world.