Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan has no ‘special’ plans for his 68th birthday and doesn’t believe in making resolutions either. “Birthdays come and go every year. And for me, every day is special. A resolution may force something on to a day which I don’t want,” he reasons. “I’m nearing 70 now. Sometimes, my knees and other joints ache and I know that I’m growing old. But I want to continue to work for as long as my body will allow me.”

Birthday celebrations were limited to a simple havan (ceremony) at home when he was a child. “Now, I usually spend time with my family and fall in with their plans,” he says.

This year, he has a special birthday gift from Sony. KBC 4 will launch on October 11 and the channel is hosting a bash for Bachchan who returns to the game show after six years. His family, actor friend Rajnikanth and Team India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, among others, are expected to be present at the gala and the screening of the first episode.

On his blog Bachchan has been expressing his excitement over the fact that his grandchildren, Navya Naveli and Agastya Nanda, his daughter Shweta‘s kids, are with him. Nothing makes him happier than returning home to his grandkids: “They bring joy to my life. I can’t express in words how happy a grandfather feels to bring in his birthday, actually, just any day, with his grandchildren around him,” he writes.

The actor, over the last few weeks, has been extremely busy, shooting ad commercials, canning episodes for KBC 4 and ‘getting into shape’ preparing for Rajkumar Santoshi action thriller, Power, in which he plays a vigilante and has promised to do his stunts choreographed by a Hollywood action coordinator without a double.

Later in the year, he will start work on Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan, R Balki’s next film for AB Corp and Buddha. The four time National Award-winning star also walked the ramp last Thursday for Karan Johar and Varun Bahl at the Couture Week with Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan – Rachana Dubey

Rann (2010)

Amidst the abundance of directors vying for mainstream success in Bollywood, Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) is a rare breed. He directs movies that fall out of conventional Indian cinema and it seems he does it for the art of storytelling rather than aiming at box-office success.

Since the critical success of the resounding Rangeela, RGV has ventured into crime, horror and previously untouched topics such as adultery. His recent foray in telling tales of the underworld in particular seemed to have served him well, as evidenced by the well received Company, D, Satya and the Sarkar movies.

In Rann he has taken on a new, perhaps bold, tale of media manipulation, principally focusing on politics and sensational news items. The film brings out the evils in society when striving for success pushes people to extremes, sounding out a sentiment that media has sidelined any moral code of ethics in present times. It may tend to lean towards an idealistic point of view at times, but the requisite of a serious tone makes Rann perfect for a thinking audience.

One of the film’s protagonists, Harshvardhan Malik (Amitabh Bachchan) owns a news channel which operates on the basis of strong moral codes and ideals. Malik believes in presenting honest, factual news and not generating news just to win an audience.

Jai Malik (Sudeep), Harshvardhan’s son, runs with the trend and sees media as a cash-cow. When their channel is under threat from competition, Jai becomes allies with politician Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal) and uses his channel to conspire against the ruling Prime Minister.

Enter aspiring journalist Purab (Riteish Deshmukh) who steps in to get to the truth of the issue. The story starts to show some elements of suspense, which seems to diminish as the film progresses, due to an increasingly predictable ending.

The script is almost written and acted out to perfection. Amitabh Bachchan, and more surprisingly Riteish Deshmukh and Sudeep deliver their crisp dialogues effectively. The menacing rather than comedic performance of Paresh Rawal is refreshing, while the support of Mohnish Behl as the competition is solid. Gul Panag brightens the screen with her smile in her limited role.

The one strong point of the film is the cinematography as it is clearly evident that Amit Roy has studied the art. The camera angles, panning shots and placement of actors on the set is well thought out and conducted. The fact that there finally seem to be cinematographers who take initiative and are innovative bodes well for the industry and future films.

To sum up Rann is one movie you do not want to miss. It displays many aspects of filmmaking that are often absent in Indian cinema, such as using music to support the story rather than throwing in inane dance numbers. The film may have some shortcomings but the message it delivers, combined with its uniqueness makes it a must-watch – Amar Ayaz

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2010, Genre – Crime, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Sheetal Vinod Talwar, Madhu Mantena, Director – Ram Gopal Varma, Music Director – Amar Mohile, Bapi – Tutul, Sanjeev Kohli, Jayesh Gandhi, Dharmaraj Bhatt, Sandeep Patil, Cast - Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal, Riteish Deshmukh, Sudeep, Manisha Koirala, Rajat Kapoor, Gul Panag, Raima Sen, Mohnish Behl, Rajpal Yadav, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Alok Nath, Neena Kulkarni, Simone Singh, Neetu Chandra, Rahul Pendkalkar

Amitabh Bachan and Raakhee in Kabhi Kabhie (1976)

Amit Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan) woos Pooja (Raakhee) with his poetry but, in accordance with their parents’ wishes, she marries an architect Vijay Khanna (Shashi Kapoor) while Amit goes into the family business. Pooja and Vijay form a happy family with their son, Vicki (Rishi Kapoor), who falls in love with Pinky (Neetu Singh), the daughter of Dr and Mrs Kapoor (Parikshit Sahni and Simi Garewal). The Kapoors and the Khannas discuss the dilemma they face in telling Pinky that she is adopted. Pinky finds her birth-mother, Anjali (Waheeda Rehman), who pretends to her husband, Amit, and their daughter, Sweetie (Naseem), that she is her niece. When Vicki arrives, he hides his connection with Pinky and works in Amit’s quarry; Sweetie falls in love with him. Vijay brings Pooja with him on a business trip to build a hotel. When he realises that Pooja and Amit were lovers, he laughs it off, but when Amit finds out that Pinky is the illegitimate child of Anjali and an airforce pilot who died before their marriage, he rejects Anjali. Events come to a head when Sweetie, on discovering that Vicki and Pinky are lovers, tries to commit suicide by heading for the part of the quarry where the blasting is about to begin. She is saved by the concerted efforts of all. Amit suddenly remembers Anjali and rushes back to the house to find her about to leave. The film ends with the marriage of Vicki and Pinky, where the three sets of parents perform the rites and Sweetie is the bridesmaid.

Kabhi kabhie weaves together two different stories, contrasting romantic love over two generations in the context of love in the nuclear family unit. The first story, the Romantic poet who cannot free himself from the past, was inspired by the life of the film’s lyricist, Sahir Ludhianvi, while the second is about adoption and its impact on families.

The theme of family love is very strongly developed here and is used to establish a generational contrast. The happy families are those who place an emphasis on trust and love. The norm is the nuclear family, characterized by great love between husbands and wives, parents and children, whether natural or adopted, the joking relationships of in-laws and the love of friends for each other. The final scene allows Pinky’s adopted parents, her natural parents and her new husband’s parents to take an equal part in the kanyadaan or the giving away of the bride.

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1976, Genre – Drama, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Yash Raj Films, Director – Yash Chopra, Music Director – Khaiyyam, Cast - Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Raakhee, Waheeda Rehman, Neetu Singh, Rishi Kapoor, Naseem