I have never seen Bachchan Saab so happy, and I do mean never in my 25-year association with this incredible artiste. Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD has recalled Mr B’s 51-year young superstardom from Zanjeer. But there is a difference.
After Kalki 2898 AD, there is a new sprint in Amitabh Bachchan saab’s gait
Amitji was the last choice for Zanjeer, after Dev Anand, Raj Kumar and Dharmendra said no to the offers. For Kalki 2898 AD, Bachchan Saab was the first and last choice.
The director Nag Ashwin said to me, “There was no way I was going to compromise on Amitabh Sir’s casting. It had to be him, or no one else. I don’t know what I’d have done if he said no. Luckily for me he was as excited about his role as I was.”
The kind of adulation that Amitabh Bachchan is receiving for his role as the mighty Ashwathama in Kalki 29898 AD makes one wonder if there are any semi-colons, let alone full stops in this actor’s life.
At 82, he shows the world that he is at the top of the game, with no competition anywhere in sight. Could there be another Amitabh Bachchan ever? He is the tree of life with other actors of successive generations serving as branches and twigs.
Blessed are the generations that get to see India’s most iconic and enduring screen-hero play a variation on all his most cherished roles. The iconic super-hero manoeuvred through his tailor-made role with a devastating dexterity, creating a celluloid combustion that leaves a trail of smoking guns, screaming tyres and satiated expectations that audiences felt and experienced in the heydays of the Bachchan Raj.
The reign never ended. How can it when there were so many fan boy directors fawning over the Bachchan stardom? Nag Ashwin too is a fan. But he doesn’t let his awe come in the way of controlling the Bachchan’s iconic personality, harnessing it into a character which is at once intimidating and awe inspiring.
That priceless incomparable voice which had lately begun to sound like a parody of the original baritone, is subdued and sublimated to echo eternity.
Now comes the third phase: Kalki 2898 AD casts the Bachchan as the ageless sage, a figure far removed from the hubbub of human activity. He is timeless!
I remember how concerned Mr Bachchan was about transitioning into his second phase with Mohabbatein. “I was in that awkward phase in my career where I was too old to play the Angry Young Man and too young to play the hero’s father. I would remain eternally grateful to Mr Yash Chopra for showing me the way,” he had said.
Now, Mr B is enjoying Phase 3 of his career thoroughly. He insists that everyone he knows watch Kalki 2898 AD and won’t rest easy until they do. There is a new sprint in Bachchan Saab’s gait which reminds me of Lataji’s song ‘Aaj kal paon zameen par nahin padte mere’.
During one of my conversations with Mrs Jaya Bachchan recently I had suggested that Mr B take it easy. “Are you mad?!” she had screamed. “He can’t be not working. It is the only thing that validates his life. Don’t even suggest it to him.”
I am glad I didn’t.
Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Nag Ashwin calls Ram Gopal Varma and SS Rajamouli his “favourite cameos” in Kalki 2898 AD; speaks on Rana Daggubati’s involvement in Prabhas-starrer
More Pages: Kalki 2898 AD Box Office Collection
, Kalki 2898 AD Movie Review
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