Rewind to the 1970s, a time when the shahenshah of Bollywood played the angry young man to phenomenal perfection and earned himself laurels from far and wide. As a role that whetted the dramatic fancy of India's excitable audiences with its overstated machismo and ruggedness, it was tailor-made for celluloid conquest. And soon enough, the man with his lanky looks and baritone (it is actually difficult to brand him a handsome hero) became the superstar and came to be recognised as the one-man industry. This 3-DVD collection of some action-packed scenes and songs from his films traces his rise, fall and, importantly, his magical – and sometimes seemingly inexplicable – resurrection.
As the green leather-jacketed Anthony or the chic Great Gambler, Bachchan's rough ride was smooth, punctuated now and then by comic relief. This compilation has action sequences (Satte Pe Satta), some light comedy (Chupke Chupke) and romance (Ek Nazar). Sure there are some sensitive flashbacks, like from Alaap, and Anand, but one misses many of his commendable performances, among them in Kabhie Kabhie, Coolie, Abhimaan, and most notably Sholay to mention a few. Instead, one is made to watch almost a fourth of Amar Akbar Anthony broken up into seven longish scenes (it does seem Shemaroo is overly concerned about the secular atmosphere in the country). There are also some glimpses from the more recent films, Baghban, Family and Hum Kisise Kum Nahin.
So much for the 'electrifying' scenes packed in all of two DVDs. The third one has some 26 'super-hit' songs from his films ranging from 'My name is Anthony Gonsalves', 'Anhonee Ko Honee Kar De' (Amar Akbar Anthony), 'Patta Patta Boota Boota' (Ek Nazar), 'Meri Makhna', 'Main Yahan Tum Wahan' (Baghban), 'Aadmi Jo Kehta Hai' (Majboor), to name some. Here again there is an overdose of Amar Akbar Anthony, but why? Here again you miss out on pretty songs from some of his better known films like Abhiman, Kabhi Kabhie and Sharaabi, etc. The song selection has been pretty poor and to call them all superhits would be a real misnomer.
All in all an entertaining retrospective, albeit incomplete and lop-sided.
A school in bahu's name
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OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | ||
Lucknow, Jan. 22: Call it playing the perfect pa-in-law. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan has decided to gift a girls' school to the people of Daulatpur and the buzz is he will name it after "hamari bahu" Aishwarya. What exactly the name will be has yet to be worked out, but sources close to Bachchan quoted him as saying "it will bear Aishwarya's name". The school, to be built on a 1.09-acre plot in Barabanki district, has revived whispers about the dispute the actor was involved in last year. But this plot — No. 711 — is different, though close to No. 702 that is now owned by the gram sabha. The foundation-laying ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, at which Bachchan is expected to unveil a plaque carrying his name. Three former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandrababu Naidu — are likely to attend, apart from the star-studded Bachchan clan. Although Bachchan baiters have been questioning his motive in building the school and even alleging "he wants to clear his conscience", a former Mulayam minister said the actor merely wanted to contribute his bit to increase literacy among girls. The actor had floated such a suggestion even in the middle of the legal wrangle last year in which he has been cleared by Allahabad High Court. "Why didn't Bachchan talk about the school before the dispute? It has come as an afterthought. But good sense, whenever it comes, is welcome," a Bahujan Samaj Party leader said. "We would call it a school to clear his conscience." A spokesperson in the Delhi office of Bachchan's wife Jaya confirmed the Barabanki inauguration on Sunday. He said the proposal for the school had been announced last year. "Mr Bachchan does not need any counselling from anyone on his social commitments," Arvind Singh Gope, a Samajwadi member, said. Samajwadi Party sources said the school was likely to be run by a trust and would provide free education to girls from underprivileged families. |
The Bachchan bahu will give her first post marriage stage performance this Thursday, but Abhishek won't be there to cheer her on
She's been doing the rounds for music releases, weddings and odd events with pa-in-law Amitabh Bachchan lately but this one's going to be a solo-act for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
The former beauty queen will give her first stage performance since tying the knot this Thursday at the JW Marriott. But sadly, hubby Abhishek won't be around to see her live performance. Ash will be putting together a ten-minute salsa act to mark the launch a new range, of the beauty soaps she has been endorsing for some time now.
Confirms a source, "She has already been practicing for the last couple of days with choreographer Sandip Soparrkar."
However, Ash is a tad upset about Abhishek not being able to make it for the show. "Abhishek Bachchan is out fo town shooting for Dilli 6 and hence won;t be able to make it even for the music launch of Jodhaa-Akbar. She hoped he'd be around for this, but it looks pretty dicey," adds the source.
Aishwarya who will jive to Latin-American dance music, will most likely be dressed in a little black number for the dance. This is not the first time she is doing the tango —not very long ago, Ash and Abhishek performed a salsa number during her birthday bash on November 2.
We guess those memories are enough to keep her company this time around.