SOCIETY
AMITABH: NEW ICON OF URBAN INDIA
By V M Gokuldas
The Big-B is in the news again. Whenever he goes for treatment, he arouses
tremendous amount of anxiety among the masses including the media. Those who
witnessed India's transition from British rule to Independence would well
remember how M K Gandhi, the father of the nation, would have the entire nation
worried each time he went on a fast-unto-death to press for piety and
rationality in public life, be it better ties with Pakistan or end to violence.
In a similar fashion, with media articulating public sentiment to the hilt,
contemporary India rode the emotional seesaw when its biggest icon Amitabh
Bachchan fell sick and then recovered. Prayers were said and rituals performed,
health bulletins were issued and messages of concern and sympathy poured in from
home and abroad, wishing him speedy recovery.
The impact on the public mind of his actress-wife Jaya, with actor-son Abhishek
in toe, walking 15 kilometer to pray at a Ganesha shrine is difficult to
describe.
The public adulation he enjoys is tremendous. He is a true superstar, if ever
there has been one. This, despite the fact that he does everything iconic
superstars should not. Far from being elusive, he is into Indian homes - and of
the disapora who watch him on TV channels - thrice a week. He is into every
fifth ad espousing some little-known products, and not always with dignity and
grace, but lifting most of them in the market.
A BBC poll rated him the biggest star of the millennium, ahead of, among others,
Marlon Brando.
He is compared with legendary Dilip Kumar. But unlike him, is far from choosy
about whom to work with. Some of his directors are younger than his son. Working
with them, he has let a hundred flowers bloom.
Yet, far from being diminished or destroyed, he has emerged a winner. This is
because he is nothing if not clever. For all his acting prowess, he remains a
putty in the hands of the director and has never tried to be a director himself.
The "Big B" has come a long way since being India's only "officially sponsored"
actor. The prime minister of the day, Indira Gandhi, wrote out introduction
letters to film maker K A Abbas and to Nargis. Abbas ("Saat Hindustani") and
Nargis's husband Sunil Dutt ("Reshma Aur Shera") gave Amitabh his first two
breaks.
His film career has seen more ups and downs than many of his contemporaries. He
has experimented with roles in a manner that would be termed reckless. The lanky
man donning safari suites, his hair all greased up, has evolved through many
avatars, breaking new grounds in acting and fashion trends.
His voice is his greatest asset. Legendary director Satyajit Ray did not give
him a role, but did use his voice to introduce "Shatranj Ke Khilari" (The
Chessplayers), one of his most outstanding films.
From angry young man who was despised, disowned and discarded, making vein
attempts to rush to the mother, desperate and blood-splattered, for the
memorable dying moments in her arms, he has become a sober old man that anyone
would look up to. Even a discerning viewer, knowing fully well that he is
acting, wants to believe in him.
His brief spell in politics was disastrous. He defeated a major opposition
leader in 1984 to be in Parliament, when ministers would seek his autographs,
excusably, for their children and grandchildren! Within months he realized that
politics was nothing but cesspool. A hot favourite and a family friend of Rajiv
Gandhi, with whom he had spent his salad years, he ditched him to quit
Parliament half-way.
He has kept away from active politics. But he is not apolitical and has not
hesitated to take political sides.
Not long ago, he was ridiculed for aping Brando's gruff voice in "Godfather",
while playing a don. Not long ago, he looked tired, swollen faced, had put on
weight and looked gaunt. His magic had begun to fail at the box office. That was
also the era when he ran up huge losses in business and was believed to have
problems on the family front.
"Kaun Banega Crorepati" , KBC for short, changed all that. The Indian version of
"Who Wants to be a Millionaire" has worked wonders for the channel that
telecasts it, for the family audiences who drool over each question-answer
episode, but most of all, for Amitabh. He is the well-dressed, well groomed, "Amitabh
Sir" asking questions in a style uniquely his own.
The father figure ends each episode greeting "Good night, Namaskar, Shabba
Khaire…" in one breadth, with a warm farewell: "do take good care of your
self…."
Second spell of KBC has had to be staggered because of his current illness, that
has also put in jeopardy films wherein INRs. 2.5 billion have been invested. But
a third spell is on the anvil. If nothing else, KBC has made acquiring general
knowledge fashionable and trying to be a millionaire, socially acceptable and
seemingly, within anyone's reach.
Why is Bachchan so hugely popular? Many theories have been trotted out by
sociologists. Simply put, as India seeks to move forward, it constantly needs to
be reassured that the past is with it, that the present is okay and that a
bright future is ahead.
For today's urban India, he reconciles the traditional values with the need to
build a future. India needs Amitabh Bachchan because he is both credible and
inclusive. He is the Pied Piper of modernity who plays a compelling tune. In
21st century, when icons have all but vanished, he is someone people want to
believe in. The Amitabh image consciously or unconsciously keeps on attracting
the masses and in the process people get hooked up to look up to him as a role
model -CNF