Mumbai (Maharashtra): He's 80 and going stronger than ever, spooling in celluloid miles' with the roles rolling in and directors still lining up to sign him on. Amitabh Bachchan, they say, was and is still an exciting actor, perhaps the best there ever has been. From Ramesh Sippy who directed him in the 1975 cult film Sholay to Ayan Mukerji who helmed his latest Brahmastra 47 years later, Bachchan is the man for all seasons and all kinds of films.
"What a wonderful innings it has been and he just keeps getting better. He has played so many varied roles in comedy, drama, romance, dancing and songs. He can do anything and everything perfectly. Has there been anybody bigger or better? I doubt it," Sippy said as the star celebrates his 80th birthday on Tuesday. It's been just five days since his latest release Goodbye.
"For me, to have Mr. Bachchan walk in my film is a big deal. He is the father of Indian cinema. He is the most respected person in the film industry," Mukerji added.
Making his debut with the relatively low profile Saat Hindustani in 1969, remembered all these years primarily for serving as his launchpad, Bachchan exploded on the silver screen with Zanjeer in 1973. There was no looking back after that, and storytellers across five decades are still trying to decode the success of the man who keeps on reinventing himself - the angry young man' of Zanjeer, Don and Deewaar, the amiable, fun professor of Chupke Chupke and the conflicted singing star of Abhimaan in the 1970s.
READ |Amitabh Bachchan turns 80: 8 times when he made silence speak louder than his baritone voice
Then came the 1980s with films such as Shakti and Silsila. The 1990s saw a slump in Bachchan's career and many of films, including Mrityudata and Lal Baadshah, tanked at the box office. Bachchan was back in the reckoning the following decade as a television host in Kaun Banega Crorepati in 2000. Twenty-two years later, the show is still running. This is also the time Bachchan transitioned into age appropriate characters in films. It started with Mohabbatein and continues with varied roles, be it Pink, Cheeni Kum or Jhund.
Sippy recalled the casting for Sholay, which saw Bachchan and Dharmendra as two friends thick as thieves. "I had seen two of his earlier films -- Anand in which he played a serious role, it was a difficult role and he stood out, and Bombay to Goa', where he played a lighter and a more boisterous role, which had impressed me a lot. We signed him. A few months later Zanjeer and Deewar were released. By the time Sholay came, he was the rising star," the veteran filmmaker added.