Once Upon a Cinema| Happy Birthday Amitabh Bachchan: When the superstar took a break

The seventies were a dream run for Amitabh Bachchan. Considering the state of Bollywood today, it is nigh impossible to explain what the Bachchan behemoth meant back in the day. He was unstoppable. They could have named a hurricane after him. Every film was a golden jubilee, every film a blockbuster. He was the only star who could guarantee a grand opening collection to the distributors and financiers. This continued unabated till the next decade. At the beginning of the eighties, a new generation joined the fray. The likes of Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff and many others stepped into films and became stars almost overnight. They were all superstars in their own right, but Amitabh Bachchan was, literally and figuratively, still the tallest star in the industry. However, there did come a time when he felt something was amiss. There was nothing new or fresh that he had to offer. Or that’s what he thought.

Right around the release of Agneepath (1990), when an interviewer asked him why his films aren’t working anymore, Bachchan told him, “People are tired of my mug.”Agneepath proved to be a flop, despite re-recording his dialogues. A lot of films were tumbling like houses of cards. Ganga Jamuna Saraswati (1988) did provide some respite, but didn’t run as well as a Bachchan film was supposed to do. Even when he teamed up with Prakash Mehra who had given him a slew of blockbusters including his very first, the audiences weren’t amused. Jaadugar (1989) had an interesting premise but did no magic at the box office. The infallible Manmohan Desai’s son Ketan Desai, a first-time director, came up with an idea which was fresh for the time. Toofan (1989) had not one but two Bachchans, and Salim Khan had written an Amitabh Bachchan film for the first time after Shakti (1982). It had a lot going for it, and yet it just had an average run. In a bid to do something different, Bachchan teamed up with Tinnu Anand and stepped out from his usual action-hero persona in Main Azaad Hoon (1989). This time it was the other half of the Salim-Javed duo, Javed Akhtar, who had written the film. It had shades of Meet John Doe (1941) and Bachchan gave it all he had, but this one didn’t work as well.

A Filmfare corresponded wrote, “Bachchan concedes that he needs a change of image, but he isn’t quite sure what that change should be. “When I went out of the way to make a good film, the critics rapped me. One of them even got turned off by the coat I was wearing in Main Azaad Hoon. Again when I tried to do something different within the commercial framework in Agneepath, the audience rejected it.” It was at this juncture that Aaj Ka Arjun (1990) and Hum (1991) provided the silver lining. Both were massive successes and granted much-needed relief, but were followed by three back-to-back duds in the form of Ajooba, Indrajeet and Akayla. It was tiring. Enough is enough, he thought. It was time to hang up his boots. Maybe just one more film, his swansong. There was a major India-Afghanistan collaboration being planned, helmed by the talented Mukul Anand who had just given him a big hit with Hum. This one was supposed to be a spectacle, with Sridevi in a double role. A perfect goodbye. At least for the time being.

Khuda Gawah was followed by Insaniyat (1994), a film five years in the making. Bachchan wasn’t signing any new projects. He was taking it easy. But a few holidays later, it was tme to decide what now. He was not the one to sit at home, twiddling his thumbs. He had tried politics back in the 80s but it was a harrowing experience. Why not try business? Cable television was on the rise both at home and abroad. UK had a sizable population of south Asians, including Indians, Bangladeshis, Nepalis and Pakistanis. He launched a channel in the UK called TV Asia, in 1993. While working at the TV Asia HQ at New York, he realised that the world of entertainment was evolving globally. Corporates were coming in, it all was more organised and above all, there was accountability. In India, it was the other way around. The corporates hadn’t entered yet, and there was just no accountability or organisation. This seemed as good an opportunity as any. Bollywood could use some professionalism.

Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited was set up in 1995. This was a whole new phase in his life. He plunged headlong into this new world. He was finally as busy as before, maybe even more. His life was split between two cities: New York and Mumbai. He got a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, because TV Asia required his attention, and he couldn’t do it from Mumbai. He was on his own in the apartment, making the bed and cooking breakfast. Life in Mumbai was equally hectic. The whole day was spent poring over company files and then a busy day in the ABCL office. The company was going great guns. It was a formidable presence in the entertainment industry, and had its finger in many pies. They were into film production, distribution, event management, audio, talent management and television marketing. And that’s when Amitabh Bachchan stepped into the world of brand endorsement.

BPL just happened to be looking for a brand ambassador at the time. Someone who was “exclusive” and wasn’t visible all the time. At the time it was considered career hara-kiri to be seen on TV. Most filmstars never did TV advertisements. BPL got in touch with him via Filmfare’s ex-editor Rauf Ahmed. It took them almost 9 months to convince him, but he eventually relented. Thus began his TV modelling career. He was also cutting music albums. Aby Baby was a collaboration with Bally Sagoo which had remixed songs from Kabhi Kabhie and some original tracks, which was released under ABCL’s own music label Big B. Films like Bandit Queen (1994) and Tere Mere Sapne (1996) were being produced. And then the cracks started to show.

Miss World is one of the oldest beauty pageants in the world. Its popularity in India soared the highest when two Indian girls won both Miss World and Miss Universe. Aishwarya Rai was the new Miss World, while Sushmita Sen was conferred the crown of Miss Universe. Miss World 1995 was held in Sun City, South Africa, and they were on the lookout for a new venue for the following year’s event. They zeroed in on India, and it made sense. The organisers of the pageant were told about ABCL. Bachchan saw it as a great opportunity to bring the pageant to India’s doors. It was the first time a global event of this magnitude was being held in India. There was a lot to be done, and very little time. After a lot of deliberation, ABCL took it up.

The event was planned in Bengaluru, and all hell broke loose. Some were of the opinion that such a pageant was at odds with Indian culture, and hence shouldn’t be held in this country. This created political tensions too, and before he knew it, ABCL was in the eye of a storm. There were attacks on the ABCL office, and a group even attacked another office, mistaking it for ABCL. But the event went off smoothly, without anything untoward occurring. But it was after the event that Bachchan realised that the real hit they had taken was from somewhere else entirely. ABCL had organised the Miss World contest with as much glitz and sheen as the show deserved. But after the event, it was revealed that they hadn’t earned anything from the event. On the contrary, the losses were astronomical. Bachchan was told that the event would be profitable for the company. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

He had hired people who had no understanding of the entertainment business, and he himself had no knowledge of finance or business management. Him and his wife Jaya were made to sign bank guarantees with the assurance that it was a common practice in business. Some ABCL films like Saat Rang ke Sapne and his comeback vehicle Mrityudaata were flops. The liabilities were mounting. The market debt was to the tune of Rs. 90 crores. Since they had signed those guarantees, the Bachchans were made personally liable. Their own accounts dried up. Creditors had lined up outside his house to recover what was owed them. The ones who had thus far thought they were fortunate to work with Bachchan were now treated him with utter disrespect.

One morning, Amitabh Bachchan woke at 4 in the morning and sat in his office, thinking about how to come out of this trap. The answer was staring him right in the face. What could he do best? He wasn’t a politician or an entrepreneur. He was an actor. There lay the rub. All this while he was indulging in things he was not good at. It was time to do what he did best. But some of his comeback films hadn’t done well, and there were those in the industry who were saying Amitabh Bachchan’s career is over. Yash Chopra lived nearby. He went over to meet Chopra and asked for work. Yash and Bachchan were friends. They had done films like Deewaar, Trishul, Kaala Patthar and Kabhi Kabhie together. Yash’s son Aditya was planning a film called Mohabbatein. He was signed on. The film was a humongous success. This was also when he began hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati. All debts were cleared in full. He was back to acting, and as it turns out, his career is far from over. At 80, Amitabh Bachchan is still in his prime.

Amborish is a National Film Award winning writer, biographer and film historian.

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