The Cynicism Towards India Is Rapidly Fading Away: Amitabh Bachchan

From movies to social awareness campaigns to, now, an uplifting television show, Amitabh Bachchan, at 73, continues to do it all and stay inspired in the process.

- Sourav Majumdar

In a nation that loves (and sometimes hates) its cinematic icons to bits, Amitabh Bachchan stands among the tallest, and not just literally. At 73, Bachchan is busier than most actors half his age, dividing his time between television shows, endorsements and movies. Though the megastar likes to underplay his stardom (he even says he “strongly disbelieves” in the word), his enormous following shows no signs of abating.

Drive down the tony Juhu Vile Parle scheme of Mumbai around 5.30 pm on a Sunday, and you will see hundreds of fans jostling right in the middle of the road bringing traffic to a standstill waiting for the routine darshan which Bachchan gives them. Standing on a little makeshift podium near the large gates of his bungalow Jalsa, he waves at his fans and they roar their appreciation. Traffic policemen in the area are used to this weekly routine by now and can only look on with a smile. Bachchan himself says he is both surprised and overwhelmed that more than 30 years since a serious accident on the sets of Coolie nearly killed him, his fans have continued the practice of gathering outside his home every Sunday.

Today, Bachchan is as much a phenomenon on social media as he is in the entertainment world. His official Facebook page has over 22 million likes and he has 18 million Twitter followers, engaging with them every day even as late as 2 am. Not surprising, that he tops the fame rankings in the 2015 Forbes India Celebrity 100 List, and finishes with an overall rank of No. 3, after Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.

This year, Bachchan has had a runaway success in Shoojit Sircar’s Piku, where he played an eccentric old man obsessed with his bowel movements, with Deepika Padukone playing his daughter. The other movie during the time period under consideration for this year’s celebrity list was R Balki’s