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HEIR APPARENT
Some people are born to splendour. The rest of us can only look on in envy while such people strut around like Princes, to the manor born. Abhishek Bachchan has an impeccable pedigree. From his mother's side, he belongs to Kulin Brahmins of Calcutta. His mother, Jaya Bhaduri, is known as one of the most graceful and talented actresses ever. His father, Amitabh Bachchan is perhaps the best known film actor ever. His grandfather a world famous poet - Harivanshrai Bachchan. But alas, depsite all this, he has had to struggle to prove his worth. It is not easy to live up to all that history behind your name. And then, the movie going crowd is merciless, it may give you a chance because of your name, but unless you come up with the goods, you are nowhere.
Abhishek had an enviable break, opposite the debutante princess of the hindi cinema, Kareena Kapoor, in Refugee a film made by JP Dutta. Abhishek got a mixed response, there was a section of viewers that went gaga over the lanky, dark actor. There were some who were not impressed. He wore pathani salwar-kurtas and turbans in the movie, which was a bit of a turn off for the younger crowd. The movie did not do too well, it was termed as slow, but overall it was appreciated.
NO GREAT SHAKES
In his next outing in Vashu Bhagnani's Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya, Abhishek played a small town boy trying to win over a big town girl. He finally got to wear modern clothes and sing and dance to woo his girl. Alas, the lanky boy could not dance well and it showed up badly in the song promos. The movie sank, Abhishek moved on. Next up, Dhai Akshar Prem Ka starred Aishwarya and Abhishek together. This combo of beauty queen and heir apparent didnt start any fires. Abhishek was still gauche and uneasy. Aishwarya's beauty and Raj Kanwar's direction did not help either and movie went the way of the previous ones.
Bas intna sa Khwab hai.. naah.. a hit was still a pipe dream.
Desh - could not be a hit even in the villages.
Haan Maine bhi Pyaar Kiya -- What to do .. audience ne pyar nahi kiya
Om Jai Jagdish - sigh sigh -- At least there were senior actors like Anil Kapoor and Anupam Kher to bear the brunt of failure
Shararat - the audiences were not amused by any shararat.
Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon- Majority of the flak for this uber flop went to Sooraj Barjatya and Hritik Roshan. Abhishek Bachchan, surprisingly, was praised for his performance. At least that was one good thing out of this disaster.
Mumbai se aaya mera dost - but khali haath jaana pada. Because people did not sing at the box office.
Kuch Na Kaho- A naysayer .. another movie with big expectations riding on it, from the Sippy stables. Not to mention the gorgeous couple Abhishek and Aishwarya co-starring. But alas, another dud.
Zameen co-starred Abhishek with Bipasha and Ajay Devgan. Flops were a habit by now. People were calling him a flopstar who was a pale shadow of his father. Abhishek began contemplating leaving acting for good. He decided to stick it out after he got a dressing down from his father. Amitabh too, had a shaky start with a string of flops until he hit gold with Zanjeer.
JP Dutta came up with LOC Kargil which was stuffed with almost all the stars of the film industry. Memories of the Kargil war were fresh in peoples minds, but the movie was longwinded. It did not do too well, but again, as in Om Shanti Om, there were too many people here for Abhishek to be labeled as the lone flop star.
Run, did not... it didnt even walk, just crawled slowly. It was Abhishek's 15th but the bad times were over.
SUCCESS AT LAST
Yuva was Mani Ratnam's offering. Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi and Abhishek Bachchan play three youngsters who keep running into each others lives. Abhishek played a wheeler dealer who falls into bad company. Abhishek made a gorgeous pair with Rani. Kabhi neem neem kabhi sakht sakht. The song summed up the character of Abhishek in the movie, as the partly lovable, partly rough Lallan. The movie was a moderate success, but more importantly, a critical triumph for Abhishek. His acting was praised to the skies.
Next up were a couple of special appearences, Hum Tum and Phir Milenge. The first was a super-duper hit, so his presence was useful. The next was a critical success, so again Abhishek gained from it. Good times were starting for him. After 3 horrible years of continous flops and bad screen presence, his appearences were finally being looked forward to. He had a sizeable presence of fan following now.
BLOCKBUSTER !
Dhoom from the YashRaj stables was a movie in hollywoodian mould. It was a fast paced thriller lasting 2 hours with minimal song and dance. Just a cop-robber story with lots of speed and thrills. He co-starred with his buddy John Abraham. The movie rocked the box office. It overshadowed the lame Naach totally. Rakht was not a big hit, but well taken as Abhishek was an actor in demand.
Sarkar had Abhishek with Amitabh in a mafia flick. The father and son duo was a big hit. The movie did very well commercially and critically.
His next was a super-duper blockbuster. Again from YashRaj, this Shaad Ali flick was a kind of a desi Bonnie and Clyde. Bunty Aur Bubly shot through the skies, it was hard to get tickets for the movie for weeks. Apart from Rani and Abhishek, it had Amitabh as a cop hot on their trails. They even danced together with Aishwarya to the tune of 'Kajrare Kajrare'. This song was practically the anthem of 2005.
TOP GUN
Abhishek could breathe easy now. He had a good year at the BO both commercially and critically and would be hard to be browbeaten by a few flops. In Dus, he had to share credits with Sanjay Dutt, Shilpa and Zayed, but the movie was another fast paced thriller and did very very well at the Box Office. There was an arty Antarmahal and an indifferent Bluff Master. His rap for Bluff Master 'Right here right now' was a big hit even if the movie was not. His first outing with Priyanka was not too well taken.
Karan Johar's KANK was expected to be a megahit. It did well overseas, was a critical washout, but claimed as a hit. However, Shahrukh and Rani had to take the rap for their wimpy roles, while Abhishek and Preity's performances were appreciated. As a nawab in Umrao Jaan, Abhishek was a disaster. He could not speak urdu to save his life, the movie was seen as slow and ornate. In short, a total bore. His screen outings with Aishwarya were not happening.
Dhoom 2 was a bigger success than Dhoom. It had Abhishek flirting with Bipasha while Hritik played Aryan the superthief who falls for his police bait, Aishwarya. The credit for the movie was hijacked by Hritik and his kiss with Aishwarya caused a mini dhoom of its own. Aish and Abhishek were dating and much was made of it. Guru was Mani Ratnam's attempt to chart the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. Here Abhishek could eat the cake and lick the icing too, as there were no other actors to share the limelight with. For a change a movie co-starring him with (then) girlfriend Aishwarya for a hit.
He had a bit role in Shootout at Lokhandwala. He chases a bunch of sikh militants across Mumbai and is killed. But his sequence was very poignant and a big hit with the action lovers. SAL was one of the few and far between hits of the current year (2007). A good thing, as Jhoom Barabar Jhoom had a grand opening, but was quickly swept under the carpet as one of the most pointless movies ever.
JBJ notwithstanding, Abhishek is seen as one of the leading actors in the Indian Cinema now. He is talented and good looking too. He has found his feet and his head is touching the skies. He has a good line up ahead. Public eagerly awaits Pradeep Sarkar's sophomore venture, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. Then there is Sarkar Raj (Godfather II???) and Drona up ahead.
Gud Luck Abhishek !
GOSSSSSIP
Abhi was engaged to Karishma Kapoor which broke up quite acrimoniously over some undisclosed reason. Post the break-up, Abhishek did not team up with Kareena Kapoor. The Bachchans and Kapoors did not invite each other for the marriages of their children. Strange because, Amitabh's daughter is married to Ritu Nanda's (nee Kapoor) son.
Abhi was rumoured to be quite a swinger. This reputation only helped to make him more popular with the young girls who swooned whenever he appeared.
He started dating Aishwarya during the filming of Umrao Jaan/Guru. There was huge lot of speculation in the media about their mismatching horoscopes, the prayers that were offered up to correct the faults. The visits to the temples and pandits undertaken by the families of Rai and Bachchan were well charted on television news channels. They compounded the mystery by marrying in a hush hush, exclusive fashion. There was speculation about the magazine they had sold the 'rights' of the wedding pictures/ videos to. Their marriage came right on the heels of another big international celebrity wedding of Arun Nayyar and Liz Hurley.
Even now rumours erupt about the cold war between Rani and Aish over Abhishek. There are stories about Aish being pregnant.
FILMOGRAPHY
- Drona (2008) (filming) (attached) .... Drona
- Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007) (post-production)
- Sarkar Raj (2007) (post-production) .... Shankar Nagare
- Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) .... Rikki Thukral
- Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007) .... Abhishek Mahatre
- Guru (2007) .... Gurukant 'Gurubhai' K. Desai
- Dhoom:2 (2006) .... A.C.P. Jai Dixit
- Umrao Jaan (2006) .... Nawab Sultan Khan
- Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) .... Sunny Kkhurana
- Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) .... Rishi Talwar
- Alag: He Is Different.... He Is Alone... (2006) .... Special Appearance (Song)
- Bluff Master (2005) .... Roy Kapoor
- Ek Ajnabee (2005) .... Bodyguard (Special Appearance)
- Neal 'N' Nikki (2005) .... Man in bar
- Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak (2005) .... Customer at pizzeria
- Salaam Namaste (2005) .... Doctor
- Antarmahal: Views of the Inner Chamber (2005) .... Brij Bhushan
- Dus (2005) .... Shashank Dheer
- Sarkar (2005) .... Shankar Nagre
- Bunty Aur Babli (2005) .... Rakesh Trivedi/Bunty
- Naach (2004) .... Abhinav
- Rakht (2004) .... Manav
- Dhoom (2004) .... ACP Jai Dixit
- Phir Milenge (2004) .... Advocate Tarun Anand
- Hum Tum (2004) .... Sameer (Special Appearance)
- Yuva (2004) .... Lallan
- Run (2004) .... Siddharth
- LOC: Kargil (2003) .... Lt. Vikram Batra, 13 JAK Rifles
- Zameen (2003) .... ACP Jai
- Kuch Naa Kaho (2003) .... Raj
- Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost (2003) .... Kanji
- Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003) .... Prem Kumar
- Shararat (2002) .... Rahul Khanna
- Om Jai Jagadish (2002) .... Jagadish Batra
- Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya (2002) .... Shiv Kapoor
- Desh (2002) .... Anjaan
- Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai (2001) .... Surajchand Shrivastav
- Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke (2000) .... Karan Khanna
- Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa (2000) .... Kabir Srivastav
- Refugee (2000) .... Refugee
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