Abhishek Bachchan or Ab jr.
’’..Papa kehte hain bada naam karega.Beta hamara aisa badnaam karega ... ’’
Thats AB jr. for you.
Okay where do I start? AB jr. is one of the most sought out actors in Bollywood.
He is the son of screen legends Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan.
Like many star kids he faced and still faces great expectations from fans simply because of his lineage.
Lets look at a few of his films and I’ll add my take on his performance.
Refugee - 2000 or 2001?
This was his first film, with Kareena kapoor. Ok truth be told, I watched this film for about 20 minutes. AB jr. runs around in the desert. He’s Han Solo combined with Crocodile Dundee and he helps people cross the India- Pakistan border through the desert for a living. Yup the border patrols are so efficient. But this movie was a ham-fest. You’ve got AB jr. giving his constipated best and Kareena giggling and crying alternately. BTW.. Suniel Shetty got the best role as a Pakistani Ranger. Yup you can judge the quality of the film if Suniel Shetty gets the acting honors.
Ok a couple of non descript films followed including:
Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya which was a remake of ’’Picture Perfect’’. AB jr. sucked doing the role played so well by Jay Mohr.
Dhai Akshar Prem Ke a remake of ’’A Walk in the Clouds’’. Ok Keanu Reeves is no good actor, so AB did the role some justice here. But boy the first action scene where AB jr. kills terrorists with just a pistol was a hoot.
Both sank like stones in the Box office.
Ok a bunch of flops later, he made Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon with Sooraj Barjatya the guy who had amazing box office success in his past films. AB jr. had a small role as Prem, but he was ok in the film. Okay when compared to a loud and abrasive Hrithik Roshan who was trying to ape Shahrukh khan. And of course the female lead was Kareena Kapoor... enuf said.
Then after giving about a dozen flops, AB jr. decided to make some films with serious filmmakers.
He made LOC with JP Dutta, the director who gave him his first break. This was supposed to be the homage to the Indian soldiers who were killed in Kargil in 1999. But if some of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives had watched the film, they’d have preferred death in the icy heights to the torture that was LOC.
AB jr. played a soldier, who said Dil Maange more. Yup in the film he’s sent to his death while his superior
Sanjay Dutt sits idly in the foothills dreaming about his wife.
Finally he struck gold with Yuva his best role till date. Working on an author backed role as a Bihari goon in Calcutta, directed by Mani Ratnam arguably one of the 5 best directors in Indian cinema. Giving a powerful performance as a misguided youth, fighting against Ajay Devgan the hero. His scenes with Rani Mukherjee were pretty powerful.
Recently a spate of AB jr. films have released including Rakht, Dhoom and Phir Milenge. None of which I’ve seen.
MY TAKE
Its tough for any son/daughter to follow in the footsteps of their illustrious parents. People always try to make odious comparisons to their parents achievements. In the film industry, some succeed and many fail. AB jr. seems to be a decent guy from his interviews. But, boy he cannot act. He is wooden like the teak chair I’m sitting on. He cannot emote and his comedy style is copied from his father Amitabhs. He is the only guy in Indian cinema who is given a rain check. Everywhere people give him chances, producers say, ’’Lambi race ka ghoda’’. My foot !
There are many deserving young actors in India who deserve a small percentage of opportunities that AB jr gets. Actors like Irrfan Khan, Jimmy Shergill, Arshad Warsi and many more. However due to nepotism which is the backbone of Bollywood, people like AB jr., Uday Chopra and Kareena Kapoor get more chances.
Who said life’s fair. But I’ve grown wiser not to waste my money on films made by such crappy actors.
Final words
AB jr. needs to take a few years off, take some acting lessons and then do some carefully chosen roles.