Here’s looking at all of Amitabh Bachchan's out-of-the-box films and characters
Amitabh Bachchan has played everything from the angry young man to the shayari speaking poet to the bad guy. While he had a great inning in his younger years, the actor seemed to be having a lot more fun in the second innings of his career, where he wasn’t always the leading man. While some experimenters failed, some went on to become path-breaking films in Indian cinema. And what would an actor’s career be like if he doesn’t take the risk and sticks his neck out? Here are some movies of his that have stood out among the rest:
1. aks
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A kind of remake of Face Off, this movie tried to grapple with the thin line between good and evil. The movie marked Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s debut as a director and had Bachchan matching acting chops with Manoj Bajpayee. And though the movie’s box office success was limited it was an interesting watch.
2. Nishabd
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Nishabd (2007)
Since the Ram Gopal Varma-Amitabh Bachchan combination had worked well in Sarkar, people expected a lot from this movie. A few feathers were ruffled when people realised that this was an adaptation of sorts of Lolita that saw a man leading his daughter into having a relationship. The story was tweaked with Jia Khan cast as Bachchan’s on-screen daughter’s friends. The two develop feelings for each other during the course of the movie. The audience never warmed up to the concept of the movie. Unfortunately, RGV’s direction faltered and the movies wasn’t really an interesting watch either. Truly, a wasted opportunity.
3. Cheeni Kum
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Cheeni Kum (2007)
Cheeni Kum has Bachchan playing 64-year-old Buddhadev Gupta, a celebrated chef, who falls in love with 34-year-old Nina (Tabu). He happens to be older than his girlfriend’s father and that causes friction. The movie also focussed on Bachchan’s relationship with his nine-year-old neighbour Swini, who suffers from cancer
4. paa
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Though Bachchan had already shared screen space with son Abhishek, this one saw them getting into a role reversal. Big B played a a boy who has a rare genetic condition known as progeria, while Abhishek was his father who doesn’t know of his existence and Vidya Balan played his doting mother. The film, directed by R Balki, was loved by critics and audience alike and won Bachchan his third national Award as the Best Actor.
5. Piku
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Piku saw Bachchan playing father to Deepika Padukone, who had a lot of trouble with his inconsistent, irregular bowel movements. A Shootjit Sircar film, the movie drew out the comedy that we fail to see in the routine of daily life. Bachchan’s brilliant performance won him his fourth National Award this time around.
6. Boom
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Boom (2003)
It was aimed to be an out-of-the-box movie that was over-the-top. Unfortunately, it went a bit too far and went on to become a disaster that none of its actors including Katrina Kaif, who made her debut with it would want to remember. The movie saw Bachchan playing an eccentric don, who was dressed in white from head-to-toe.
7. Pink
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Pink (2016)
This was Bachchan’s last movie outing. Bachchan starred as the fierce, bipolar lawyer Deepak Sehgal, who takes a stand for three women who are wrongly accused by sons of people in places of power. The movie was loved by the audience and proved that content-oriented films will always work at the box office.
