Amitabh Bachchan is undeniably one of the most talented thespian powerhouses that the world will ever witness. His contribution to the world of cinema is incredible and indelible. How did Amitabh Bachchan become a “relatable” and “relevant” Angry Hero in the 1970s? How does his timeless legacy make him an absolute authority on Hindi as well as Indian cinema?
The Emergence Of A “Don” On And Off The Screen:
Here’s how Amitabh Bachchan’s filmography was broadly shaped by and influenced by the socio-political-economic conditions prevalent in India at the time of his emergence. Bachchan’s fame came at a time when action-oriented flicks were becoming increasingly popular and professional in the business. This further explains why different forms of art such as cinema and literature are very accurately referred to as reflections of society.
The turbulent 1970s saw India undergo topsy-turvy socio-political and socio-economic scenarios. The Emergency was imposed on the nation by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. As a consequence, unemployment, inflation, poverty, lawlessness, and widespread political and financial corruption prevailed. The masses needed a rebellious figure, an anti-institutional imagery, a voice that would speak and act on behalf of them and for them.
This led to the rise of the “Angry Young Man of India”, Amitabh Bachchan, who became the voice of the common people through his iconic films. To mention a few, these were Zanjeer (1973), Majboor (1974), Deewaar (1975), Sholay (1975), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), Trishul (1978), Don (1978), The Great Gambler (1978), and Kaala Patthar (1979). The “Angry Young Man” was made to speak on behalf of the teeming multitudes.
Commercial, mainstream and larger-than-life movies began to be widely preferred. Thus, Amitabh Bachchan emerged as the biggest Bollywood megastar of the 1970s, and continues to impress the audience with his superb on-screen presence and perfect dialogue delivery. The megastar of Bollywood debuted with a black-and-white film called Saat Hindustani in 1969 in which he played a small role of a Muslim poet.
It is alleged that the actor who had been originally roped in to play this role was replaced by Bachchan when the latter received a letter of recommendation from Indira Gandhi. His debut film is his only black-and-white film in his entire career that spans over a period of more than six decades.
Amitabh Bachchan gained widespread popularity only with Zanjeer in 1973. Subsequently, he went on to deliver numerous commercial successes at the box-office. By the late 1970s, commercial films with extensive action sequences almost emerged as a regular trend. Besides action, romance emerged as a common and typical genre too.
In 1975, Sholay and Deewaar became massive box-office triumphs that fittingly threw light on the socio-economic conditions of the common man in that period, besides entertaining the audience with their ‘mass and masala’ elements. Shaan (1980) and Kaalia (1981) too allowed Bachchan to showcase his star persona based on restraint and his tremendous knack for action.
Thus, Amitabh Bachchan became the face of society. He became the face of the people and of the times. In a country like India, no one could become a better “representative” of the common man than a “Hero” who appears on the silver screen. Bachchan towered over the rest, quite literally, alongside his colleagues. In the next one decade or so, the focus again shifted from action to romance.
Romantic musicals and romantic comedies became more preferable than gangster movies or action-oriented films. Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Silsila (1981), and Satte Pe Satta (1982) prove the same. Bachchan’s legacy emerged as a timeless and eternal one. He is possibly the most “complete” actor that the industry will ever see!
To summarise, the filmmakers back in the 1970s converted the emotional unrest of the dissatisfied multitudes into action-oriented scripts and dialogues. Amitabh Bachchan’s persona and stardom in the 1970s and 1980s was the result of a combination of his remarkable acting prowess, the politically-charged script writing, and a socio-economic context where distress, anger, rebellion, and revenge were identified with the daily experiences of the enraged masses.
Amitabh Bachchan was last seen in a short friendly appearance in Ganapath: A Hero Is Born (2023), which released on 20th October in cinemas worldwide. We hope to see more of this iconic legend in the following years as well!