By Surendra Bhatia
The list of phenomenal Bollywood actors is long and worthy. Some, like Sanjeev Kumar, have had short-lived careers, others, like Jeetendra, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor have had far longer innings, and a few chosen ones, like Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar, have spanned generations and film formats. But all of the above flagged with fatigue when they reached the home run. There’s just one Hindi film actor (from South industries, there are two — Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan) who still goes on strong in his 77th year, still maintains the same enthusiasm on screen, that he did when he started out. Of course, he is Amitabh Bachchan, the latest recipient of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
The honour has been long in coming since Amitabh has put in sterling work as actor for almost 50 years; yet, possibly, it has come too soon since Amitabh is still at the peak of his prowess as an actor, continues to put in tremendous performances and has many more years to go before he hangs his boots, if he does that at all. Most other actors who have been similarly honoured have almost retired or were on the sidelines, not getting or taking up acting assignments. Amitabh, on the other hand, seems to still bring to his role the passion of a newcomer desperate to make a mark. Even today, when he is on screen with present-day superstars, he doesn’t yield an inch in the field of acting. He is still at the top of his game, incredibly. And to think that he continues to host — very successfully, it must be noted — the Kaun Banega Crorepati TV show, meeting and interacting with youngsters on screen and being able to keep up with them.
He has been incomparable. He is alone in his category, and to his credit, he has rarely disappointed on screen, except for a brief period as hero before he made the transition to character roles. Most Dadasaheb Phalke awardees have been deserving of the honour, and it must be a proud moment for Amitabh Bachchan to make it to the short list. Kudos.
