In Amar Akbar Anthony, I believe, but it could well have been any of them, each equally potent -- be it applied to a police station chair or a goon's torso. It was a revelation. Here was this skinny, affable fellow with a goofy grin who suddenly turned his lankiness into a weapon, coiling his long leg inwards
Dhish-dhish-dhishoom.
Mothers, as enthralled as fathers and foals, would uncharacteristically refrain from asking to fast-forward the fight scenes.
Awed, as I said. And this is where the thank-you this massive began with assumes yet more weighted significance: because you refused to rest. (Not merely on your laurels, but rest at all. You act, you endorse, you blog, you tweet, you give interview after interview with indefatigable grace and impossible tirelessness.) And while that is by itself a staggering feat, it is amplified by your willingness to start, each time, from scratch.
The oft-misused phrase 'director's actor' actually means one who surrenders himself to the will of the director, one who is as good as the director needs him -- and pushes him -- to be. We've all seen the landmark performances many times over, but, with nothing left to prove, it is amazing how you continue gamely to leap headfirst into the unknown, willing to play the fool and go out on an unprecedented limb.
Outlandish roles, debutant directors, performances that are loved, those that are derided -- the only thing consistent in your filmography over the last decade has been risk. You recklessly go for broke far more often than any other star, and continue to defy conventional wisdom, continue to paint a bullseye on your back, pull on those silly boots and take criticism on that now-bearded chin. Despite having amassed more experience than every single person you work with, you are still content being -- and I mean this in the most complimentary of ways -- a mere actor.
Happy Seventieth, Mr Bachchan. May you remain as emphatically restless as you ride gloriously toward the windmills. And may we all continue to get a lot more of you.
Yours,
Raja Sen
(Who, at 7, had a Shahenshah jacket made.)
PIX: Lovely Aishwarya at Pa's B-day Bash
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PIX: Rajini, Hema Malini, SRK at Big B's birthday bash
IMAGES: Take a tour of Amitabh's home in Allahabad
PIX: Aaradhya Bachchan's first public appearance