This story is from June 3, 2015

Why Big B is still Bollywood's game-changer

As Twitter clock struck 15 million a few days back for him, Superstar Amitabh Bachchan once again emerged as the industry's most defining actor.
Why Big B is still Bollywood's game-changer
As the Twitter clock struck 15 million a few days back for him, superstar Amitabh Bachchan once again emerged as the industry's most defining actor.
At 72, he is beating the idea that a stars' shelf life and longevity is linked with age. Probably, it is best to emphasize Big B is more of a solid performer who from the start of his career has never shirked away from taking challenges.
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The foremost cue to take from senior Bachchan is to not be shackled up in a particular mould.
Being branded as Bollywood's 'Angry Young Man' for the longest time, isn't it hard to believe that he was the same guy we saw in theaters a week ago, flaunting his heavily Bonglicized accent in Piku.
Being offered character roles is an age thing, suggest Bollywood insiders. But to give character roles, a tinge of spark is something only an intense performer can render.
Big B believed in dabbling in varied genres. In 1971, despite being in the same frame with Rajesh Khanna (the reigning superstar then), he risked taking a second role in Anand, because he believed in the mettle of the story.
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While slice of life films continue to remain his forte even now, Bachchan gave sturdy performances in quintessential masala blockbusters like Amar, Akbar, Anthony, Don, Deewar, Zanjeer.
At the turn of that decade, he was the industry's most popular commercial hero. But in the 80s, the superstar risked it all by taking up Yash Chopra's Silsila. For its times, Silsila breached upon the touchy subject of extramarital affairs that couldn't have easily suited the palette of people with a rudimentary outlook. For a leading man who is always entrusted with the responsibility of setting an example for viewers, his character of the man torn between marriage and love was impeccably brought alive on celluloid. With so much soul in his performance, his success attained newer zeniths.
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As he juggled roles, bringing more to his characters than what the scripts sketched out, films like Agneepath continued to retain his popularity amongst his fans. It's this constant support base Mr Bachchan has created with constant love over the decades which has catapulted him out of bad times.
Following the unfortunate ABCL debacle, it wasn't exactly a safe move for a mainstream superstar to move to small screen but Big B did it with panache. By the culmination of the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati, he was back to being a household name again. At the time of the television boom, Mr Bachchan was the only one who opened up to the newer market forces, which he highly benefited from. It fortified his star power way more than ever and every kind of role came his way.
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From films like Nishabd and Cheeni Kum which were two starkly different ways of picking up a similar theme, Big B shone in each frame so differently. While his fervour was the flavour in the former, it was crackling humour that brightened up R Balki's film. His zeal has allowed him to experiment vastly with newer roles, newer characters. Playing Auro in Paa, was another breakthrough performance. A man in his 60s plays a Progeria stricken child in his teens with such enthusiasm is what gave the movie its substance.
Being curious about technology has helped him build himself as a far-reaching brand globally. For someone who is so prompt and deft with cinema, television, social media, Big B is an envious package. With over 15 million followers on Twitter and over 20 million on Facebook, his fans still vouch for the fact that they connect with him most on his blog. His gesture towards his fans is heartwarming.
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"It is almost like a parent talking to us. He is family for us and we literally have to scold him - 'Go to sleep on time.' 'Don't overwork'," says a member of his EF group. Bachchan sahab's EF is his core fan club whom the star takes as his extended family.
During the interview of Shamitabh, when he was quizzed about his fan group, Big B said, "Everyone that comes on my blog I called them as an extended family. And I call them because they are so personal and almost like family. They are very sincere, come every day on the blog, and I have design my blog in such a way that I respond to their response. I am not able to do that all the time, but I try as hard as I can.
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Everyone thinks that I have a huge media team that checks and replies on my post, but no, I do it on myself. It's wonderful to know them, and now I know them personally. I know them by name, by face. They travel from different parts of the world - South Africa, America, Australia, and so on. They come, I meet them, bring lovely gifts for me and they connect with the other EFs that is in the city. None of them knew each other before, they know through my blog and now everyone knows each other. They all come to the city and stay together. The person who is here will invite them to their home, and they all live together as one family. So it keeps growing and I feel wonderful about this."
As his legendary father Harivansh Rai Bachchan had once chronicled in a poem, "Kuch kiye bina hi jay jaykar nahin hoti, Himmat karne Walon ki haar nahin hoti." Apt much, we say.
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