Known as Big B or Millenium Superstar, Amitabh Bachchan is one of the all-time greats of Bollywood. Finding early success with subversive 70s-era action dramas like Deewar and Zanjeer, Bachchan attained immortality in the industry by aligning himself with cult classics like Sholay, romances like Kabhie Kabhie and Silsila, and more emotion-driven films like Anand and Mili.
But even at the turn of the century, Bachchan has managed to overshadow his peers by finding ready work in all sorts of roles. Be it hosting the quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Indian counterpart to Who Wants to Be A Millionaire) or acting in hundreds of ad films to earning continued acclaim in supporting performances in the 2000s and the 2010s, Amitabh Bachchan’s legacy still endures.
The Angry Young Man
The son of noted Hindi poet Harivanshrai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan himself wasn’t a writer but his early stardom was largely shaped by Bollywood’s legendary screenwriting pair Salim-Javed. The duo collectively wrote many of his classic roles in movies like Deewar, Zanjeer, Coolie, Don, and Sholay. While Sholay was a neo-Western potboiler and Don was a noir thriller, the other examples found Bachchan playing working-class heroes (or anti-heroes in some cases) that encapsulated the collective frustration of the Indian youth in the 1970s.
This is perhaps why critics continue to dub that particular phase’s Amitabh as the “Angry Young Man”. To an extent, his action-hero persona was kept alive in the 1990s with blockbusters like Agneepath that starred him as a vengeance-seeking gangster.
The Hero with Other Heroes
Despite his evergreen charisma, Amitabh Bachchan hasn’t shied away from sharing screenspace with other top-billed peers. This is more than evident from his acclaimed collaborations with Rajesh Khanna in the Hrishikesh Mukherji-directed features Anand and Namak Haraam, which displayed Bachchan’s emotional prowess. Manmohan Desai’s feel-good tale of separated-and-reunited brothers Amar Akbar Anthony similarly paired Bachchan alongside his on-screen kin Rishi Kapoor and Rajesh Khanna.
Transition to Supporting Roles
As he began aging and even his son Abhishek Bachchan went on to carve his acting career, Amitabh Bachchan diversified with the times and began taking on supporting roles from the 2000s onwards. And this choice has perhaps brought out a versatility that only some actors can match including performances like the ever-constipated Bashkor Banerjee in the road comedy Piku, the Alzheimers-struck alcoholic teacher Debraj Sahai in Black, and the titular royal guard in Eklavya.
The Great Gatsby is Bachchan’s only Hollywood credit
Despite his universal fame and appreciation from Hollywood directors like Steven Spielberg, Bachchan ventured to the West only once. He shared a brief role as the Jewish mobster Meyer Wolfsheim in Baz Luhrmann’s take on The Great Gatsby which starred Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio as the eponymous protagonist.
Why Sholay is Amitabh Bachchan’s best movie?
Directed by Ramesh Sippy and written by Salim-Javed, Sholay is an unforgettable gem of 1970s Bollywood. The Western is filled with quotable dialogues and thrilling action chase sequences as it revolves around two ex-convicts taking on the ruthless bandit Amjad Khan. Bachchan is as the courageous hero Jai and so is the supporting ensemble with Dharmendra playing his merry partner-in-crime Veeru and Hema Malini offering a career-best performance as feisty horse-cart driver Basanti. Khan’s terrifying turn as the villain makes him one of Indian cinema’s most endearing villains, etching himself into the echelons of quintessential Indian pop culture (much like every other character from the movie).
Where can you stream Amitabh Bachchan’s filmography?
Most of Amitabh Bachchan’s movies can be streamed on Netflix, and Prime Video along with Indian-exclusive services like ZEE5, Voot, and Shemaroo.
