Unstoppable At 82, Has Amitabh Bachchan’s Stardom Been Under-Utilised?

New Delhi: Amitabh Bachchan is unstoppable at 82. A cinematic force to reckon with, if someone were to encapsulate his contribution to Hindi cinema, it would be akin to doing a PhD. In fact, the journey of his stardom can be a subject of study for students of cinema.

“He is one of the greatest stars to have ever walked on the planet. He is right there with the titans of movie history and for a reason– his aura is next to none,” exhibitor Vishek Chauhan told Indianexpress.com.

However, reflecting on his journey, trade and industry insiders rue how Bollywood looks at him as ‘actor’ whereas the South treats him like a ‘star.’

“Bollywood looks at Bachchan now as an actor, South looks at him as a megastar, which is why you could get a Kalki with him,” Vishek told indianexpress.com, referring to the Telugu blockbuster which featured him as the giant Ashwathama. The megastar is portrayed as a towering personality in the film and has some exciting action sequences. In Kalki 2898 AD, Bachchan was the Angry Old Man.

“At 73, they look at Rajinikanth as a star, we look at Bachchan as an actor and give him characters to play. Even if Vijay gets old, he will still be Vijay in Tamil films– and they love larger-than-life hero cinema, which has sadly gone missing from Bollywood,” Vishek was quoted as saying. According to him, Hindi filmmakers are not utilising him well.

Exhibitor Raj Bansal rues that a majority of Hindi filmmakers don’t know what to do with the stardom of Bachchan anymore and lack the vision to see him in larger-than-life films. So, they cast him for “mileage”, hoping that his face in their films could give the project some “credibility.” He told indianexpress.com that Hindi filmmakers have stopped offering him a meaty role. “Nag Ashwin used his angry man image rightly and they got a dividend out of it. He can deliver even at this age, because there are certain things only Bachchan can do. When he plays a giant in Kalki, you buy it, because that’s how we have known him as– He can do anything,” Bansal added.

“Had Bachchan been in one of South industries, he’d still be belting hits the way Rajinikanth does. We have forced Mr Bachchan to become a character actor, failing to utilise his aura and gravitas. That larger-than-life aura of his can’t be dwarfed, but we don’t write such roles to do justice to him.”

According to Vishek, Bachchan’s stardom has to be utilised but not necessarily in a lead role. You need those few scenes to unleash that angry man, who has become old now. Once you do that, people will start clapping and whistling again,” Vishek told indianexpress.com, adding that Bachchan is a “limitless” actor, who can switch between “massy” moments as well as touching performances in films like Cheeni Kum, Paa and Piku.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said Bachchan has worked with all the greats and what sets him apart is that he is now eager to collaborate with new-age directors. “I started my career in the 1980s, he was a phenomenon then. I am old now, but he is still there, relevant as ever. Others faded with the passage of time, but Bachchan still stands tall,” he told indianexpress.com