Amitabh Bachchan and my childhood and my adulthood and this day…. AB is all a cinemalover in India prays for & his stature isn’t unworthy. He is an era.. an age.. a lifetime for Indian Cinema. I love him but I don’t know why!! I Live his films (Manmohan Desai’s & Prakash Mehra’s & his own..) and I hate the ones which used his stature and failed him as an artist. I mean… why did he ever chose to participate in some of the misadventures in the name of Indian Cinema like “Ganga Jamuna Saraswati’ & “Toofaan” & “Ajooba” & some more? ABCL & perhaps the insecurity of regaining his position over the masses which Govinda & Anil Kapoor & perhaps Nana Patekar & the youngsters of the 90’s were taking over. MAJOR SAAB is a clear example of a wrong choice…….so are his other projects before and after. But he broke my heart… Heart of a Fan who lives till date, the legacy of “Bakhtawar” & “Baadshah Khan” & “Vijay”!!
Yesterday I happened to watch “Teen Patti” & I wished upon a Harakiri as his fan!!!!! Why? And just Why??? The pressure to have a hold upon your status as the nation’s leading star & to maintain your stardom is one obligation…….the other one, “The Bigger and The Larger one is for those fans who Live you Sir!”
It was devastating and I had to recall that era where he failed fans like me in the past with his wrong choices or perhaps his desperation to maintain his stand in the race.
I am more of an “Anil Kapoor” fan than an “AB” patriot………… and I would like to share my moments of disappointments I had to face as a movie-lover & a cinemaholic because I did “Chose” to buy the tickets for his work. 1988-1992 was his worst phase where the directors were trying to pass him off as a “Young Man” wronged, playing those ridiculous roles when VCR was ruling the nation. I guess he was the safest scapegoat for the Producers, with horrible scripts & bad music & devastating screenplays, over acting, hyper melodrama, implausible sequences………. Have you ever thought of gifting your closest pal (closest enemy…) with a 4 pack DVD of AB Films of the 90’s? Count them in your “You M$t$%rf&*%k^r have a good day” list ….. I have a Package. Follow my list in case you do wish upon A BRETHREN to fall upon decay in the name of “passion called AB MOVIEWORLD’… and watch some freaky films.
My all-time Favorite Amitabh Bachchan Disasters are as follows:
Raam Gopal Varma Ki Aag:
We go by ratings and IMDB says “RGV’s Indian Flames….” Can someone kindly hand me one samurai sword?
I won’t give it a rating for anything other than Urmila’s dance No. “mehbooba”……….rest all sucks bro!
Why did Ab chose this project? Playing Gabbar? Unsolved mystery..”
“ I thought if Thakur didn’t have hands how could he have shaved everyday? So let’s have a Thakur with a beard…..” :RGV got away with this explanation……. After Rangeela I despise him.
“The character laughter sounding like a cough of Gabbar… should have made him look eccentric but audience thought he suffered from TB!” … Raam Gopal Verma.
He gambled, with a wrong man………“WHY DID YOU CHOSE THIS ONE SIRRRRRRRR?”
Teen Patti (2010)
Ben Kingsley dubbed by Boman Irani (Hiccups) in Hindi.. Shradhdha Kapoor seated with Shakti Kapoor on a “3 Batti” table…. A maths professor gone wrong. His shabby appearance is a betrayal!! Why Sirr ji?
Boom (2003)
“Aatmahatya” boltte hain isse as a Fan!! He did not even attempt to act in this film as a collective “Hottness Quotient”…..The diamond heist gone all wrong…. even the hot Supermodels couldn’t save this.. whatever!! Wrong Choice Absolutely.
Jaadugar (1989)
Mera Naam Goga…… Iss Se bhayankar na koi hoga………….. Prakash Mehra & AB!! The brilliant pairing gone wrong. Horrifying & please don’t bother to search online for this scary film. I took a Sabbatical from cinema after this movie & I was in hiding.
Ganga Jamuna Sarawati (1988)
This film made me angry not as an AB fan but also as a cinema-goer because this movie spells disaster…. Wasted efforts over a story which was “out-of-control”. Obnoxious & Unbelievably “SH&%iT&Y”…. the crocodile fights? The plastic dummy? And Amrish Puri gets eaten by it!!”
Toofan (1989):
I did watch this classic film for the sake of Indian Film Industry and came home crying in frustration. My Superhero gone down as a Ramsay Horror Flick
!! Best est of costumes!! History being created!! It haunts me………….!!!!
Ajooba (1991)
A clumsy Russian collaboration-fantasy-superhero-disaster …….. I took a literal SANYAAS from Indian cinema and gave up all my hopes on AB. If GJS made me weep, this one made me shed tears in blood. I could never forgive him for this one.
Laal Baadshah (1999):
Bihar & the comedy element fell flat… it was tragic & a disastrous pairing with Manisha & Shilpa… god knows who convinced him for such an endeavor! Horrendous and the result was evident. Flop.
Mrityudaata (1997)
A surgeon who shifts from scalpel to machine guns (plastic summer school versions)…….just a Daler Mehendi song to lift up your spirits………this hyped comeback spelled doom till “Mohabbatein” could save his honor!
Akayla (1991):
A lonely cop and a talking car and………………. Nothing! It meant a lot for me for the sake of Meenakshi & Jackie but this film was a nightmare.
Insaaniyat (1994):
I never spent 40 bucks on hiring the vcd coz it simply portrayed disaster. It doesn’t have a re-run or any value when it comes to quality….. and Mankind has forgotten this piece of art.
Amitabh Bachchan is what Indian Cinema is all about. Unexpected!! Glamorous!! Dramatic!! And there is no Bollywood without him, but this list is a reminder that even the Marlon Brando’s were meant to chose the wrong scripts simply because there were lesser directors & writers to provide them occupational Justice. Amitabh and Brando did not fail…….the Film Industry did.
Great
Courageous
But the list is longer. ….
I still have some more films to add to the list but I avoided. Its not about the no. Of films which failed him or vice versa… it was a phase in 2 terms. From 1988-1993 & now. He needed work and still does… its those directors who have no direction who are still failing him. Did you see 102 not out?
Yes indeed. There are still some more titles I would be willing to add to the list.
A nice article to read n good research is done by you.Got to know many facts . Keep on writing so that people like me can know the facts from prospect of a cinema lover. You take so much effort to write n I feel proud to be associated with you as a sister, a admirer of you. PROUD OF YOU N LOVE U POOJA
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Thanks you so much for providing an audience Harpreet. Cinema is a very simple hobby… we all are familiar with it as it easily reaches our household. Its all about telling stories and i love re telling them. Happy cinema.
Thanks a lot for reading the article.
I am impressed u still remember the cost of hiring video cassettes back then.. ha ha..
Every word u wrote I cud relate to it. After toofan and ajooba I stopped acknowledging his film releases coz I wanted to maintain his superhero image of yesteryears in my life
Anurag we have grown with his films and this phase happened when we reached our teens, so this was kind of a nightmarish period as all his films were disastrous. Thanks for connecting. Regards
Please can I link this writing? It’s valuable advice worth sharing! My crowd will find value in this too.