Amitabh Bachchan Archives - Page 4 of 4

Pushpa, KGF and How Massive Beards Came to Replace Hairy Chests as a Sign of Masculinity

There was time a when our heroes carried hair on their chest as a sign of restrained heroism. It’s absurd really, but films like Pushpa and KGF imply the arrival of the most explicit and visible evidence yet of a man’s virility, troublingly told through violence – his overgrown beard.

Manik Sharma March 30, 2016

Pop Culture

Diljit Dosanjh: The Unsuitable Boy of Bollywood

Diljit Dosanjh is an unlikely hero for Bollywood. I can’t remember the last time someone with such son-of-the-soil appeal made it as a leading man in a mainstream film.

Karanjeet Kaur March 25, 2016

Pop Culture

20 Years Of Sooryavansham: Our Sunday Afternoon Guilty Pleasure Before the Age of Binge-Watching

Purists may dismiss Sooryavansham as one of Amitabh Bachchan’s mediocre offerings, but two decades later, this sappy family drama has found itself a diverse and an ever-growing fandom: Some watch it for cheap thrills, some out of habit. The movie’s perpetual telecast has inspired legions of jokes and memes.

Pragyan Mohanty March 21, 2016

Pop Culture

All Hail Jaanbaaz Julia

Karan Johar made the mistake of believing he’d invited Kangana Ranaut of a decade ago to Koffee with Karan. No longer the awkward outlier, the actress dropped several truth bombs.

Poulomi Das March 17, 2016

People

Come for the Moustache, Stay for the Decency: Why Amol Palekar Remains Hindi Cinema’s Wholesome Middle-Class Snacc

In film after film, in Chhoti Si Baat and Baaton Baaton Mein, in the universes of Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, on public transport and in Bandra apartments, Amol Palekar played the man on the street. Who else could essay a white-collar worker with the soul of a poet, who you might meet on a train or a bus, if not him?

Karanjeet Kaur March 14, 2016

Bollywood

Mohammad Aziz, More Than a First Copy of Mohammad Rafi

Mohammad Aziz wasn’t just a first-copy version of Mohammad Rafi. That would be unfair to the artist he was. Aziz was the first-copy version of all the actors he sang for: He was Govinda’s pelvic thrust, Mithun Chakraborty’s swagger, Rajesh Khanna’s ham, Amitabh Bachchan’s buffoonery. He was all that they were or wanted to be.

Vaibhav Vishal March 13, 2016

Bollywood

No Dharma Films, No Koffee with Karan. But Chunky Pandey was a Superstar in Bangladesh

After the success of Aankhen in 1993, Chunky Pandey practically had no work. That’s when directors from Dhallywood, the Bangladesh film industry, came knocking on his door. Pandey dived right in and became an instant superstar.

Sayantan Mondal March 11, 2016

Bollywood

Thugs of Hindostan Review: A ₹300-Crore Rambo Circus

Vijay Krishna Acharya's Thugs of Hindostan is one of Bollywood’s most unambitious and derivative films; it redefines the idea of an epic disaster. It’s a frightening love-child of Mohenjo Daro and Mangal Pandey — only a thousand times worse.

Poulomi Das March 10, 2016