Satyagraha, Amitabh Bachchan’s last movie, which released in August 2013, barely created a ripple before vanishing into the graveyard of flop movies. But Bachchan himself powers on despite steadily advancing age.
And a testament to his staying power is a survey finding him the most trustworthy personality after Mahatma Gandhi. Amitabh beat Shah Rukh Khan and the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who were ranked immediately after him. Also, the movie offers still keep coming and not just in character roles.
Recently, the trailer of his next movie Bhoothnath Returns, the sequel to the 2008 children’s movie, was released. Amitabh again plays the central character of a ghost. Interestingly, sequels are usually made of blockbusters and the first movie, Bhoothnath, did just about okay.
That they should make the sequel is also an indication of how much faith filmmakers have in Amitabh. There is also a special appearance in the movie by Ranbir Kapoor playing himself. During a media interaction Amitabh said that Ranbir is more popular than him and he hopes to act with him, even if in a small role.
He might be true about the popularity but in the kind of space Amitabh has made in the heart of all movie lovers, Ranbir still has a long way to go. Also, no filmmaker would make a sequel of a Ranbir movie which was not a superhit. Amitabh’s niche is unlike any the industry has known.
The rivalry question
Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla are acting together in the soon-to-be-released Gulaab Gang. They are currently doing the promotions of the movie and strange discordant noises are emanating from the two of them.
One day the headlines read Juhi saying they were rivals who have put the history behind them. And the next day the headlines quote Madhuri saying that she never considered Juhi a rival. But the fact is that there indeed was a time when they didn’t like each other too much.
Juhi was recently quoted in an interview saying that she had refused to act in the 1997 blockbuster Dil To Pagal Hai because it had Madhuri. Shah Rukh was the emerging superstar starring as hero and Juhi was one of his best friends. She still refused to accept the offer because it would have meant playing second fiddle to Madhuri.
She is therefore candid in saying that they had a huge rivalry. Madhuri, meanwhile, is still being diplomatic in refusing to concede it in public. But it is also an indication of how both of them approach their careers now.
Juhi is not in the rat race and does occasional films to enjoy herself. Madhuri, on the other hand, has returned from the US and is making a serious comeback. She hopes to be in the fray for some time and is still playing by the rules of the game. Even if the rivalry no longer exists now, it will be interesting to see who out-acts the other in Gulaab Gang.
The convenient analysis
Ever since Jai Ho hit the screens and didn’t even come close to the kind of business that superhits by actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan had pulled off, Salman Khan’s stock has suddenly taken a beating.
For some time now everyone in Bollywood had been talking as if he was the only superstar in town, comparable to what Amitabh Bachchan was in his heydays. But no longer are such eulogies being floated.
Jai Ho might have cleared what was once the respectable figure of Rs 100 crore ($16mn) but nowadays others have been clearing twice, thrice that number. But when it comes to superstars there is always spin doctoring to overcome a problem. The Salman team has now gone into overdrive explaining how Jai Ho is an equally big hit despite it having earned less!
The logic for this begins with news being first spread that the ticket prices of Jai Ho were deliberately kept low because Salman Khan wanted his movie to be accessible to all his fans. And then a unique calculation is done. They say that if the ticket prices in multiplexes had been double then revenue-wise it would have been as big a blockbuster as Chennai Express or Dhoom 3.
The analysis is of course very convenient but flawed. If the ticket prices had indeed been priced less then Salman fans should have flocked in large numbers and volumes would have made up for the reduced price.
Indeed, this might probably have been the expectation but that it didn’t materialise means that Jai Ho just couldn’t pull in the larger numbers. Salman’s saleability might still be intact in the industry but his status as the Khan Number One has definitely come into question with Jai Ho. His next movie will have to do extraordinary business if he has to maintain his standing.
The family friend
There was a time when Shah Rukh Khan was persona non grata with the Bachchans. They maintained civil relations but nothing beyond that. This had to do with him once chucking out Aishwarya Rai from his home production Chalte Chalte after her then boyfriend Salman Khan came and created a scene in the sets.
Since then they had not been on talking terms. When Aishwarya married Abhishek Bachchan, Shah Rukh’s name was absent in the list of invitees. But in the last couple of years, things have changed on that front. Shah Rukh, who has been mending relationships with many estranged friends, also made peace with Aishwarya.
And then when Farah Khan decided to make Happy New Year, she cast Shah Rukh and Abhishek together.
Recently, both of them seem to have bonded a lot on the sets. Abhishek first gifted Shah Rukh a cycle a few weeks ago. Shah Rukh had tweeted his gratitude then and recently returned the gift by getting a cycle delivered to Abhishek’s home.
It is reportedly a high end one costing close to $30,000. The aloofness between the two families seems to have been well and truly buried.
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